by David Fried, editor The Buyback Letter
Our recommendations center on a collection of stocks that we believe, as a group, will outperform the market. The Buyback Premium Portfolio is beating the S&P 500 by more than 44% since its inception in 2000.
Our latest additions to this portfolio are
Allied World Assurance Company Holdings, Ltd. (
AWH),
Health Net (
HNT) and the
McGraw-Hill Companies (
MHP).
We previously bought Allied World Assurance twice in 2009 and now it has risen to the top of our filters again.
Together with its subsidiaries, Allied World operates as a specialty insurance and reinsurance company in Bermuda, the U.S., Ireland, and the United Kingdom.
It involves property and casualty insurance, and reinsurance lines of business, and is rated A (excellent) by A.M. Best Company.
Established in 2001, it maintains offices in Atlanta, Bermuda, Boston, Chicago, Dublin, Farmington, London, New York, San Francisco and Zug, Switzerland.
In mid-February, the company reported a strong 4th quarter. Operating income was $94.7 million ($2.40 per diluted share) compared to operating income of $97.3 million ($2.24 per diluted share) for Q4 2010.
Operating income for the year ended Dec. 31, 2011 was $183.7 million ($4.63 per diluted share), compared to operating income of $397.8 million ($7.97 per diluted share) for the year ended Dec. 31, 2010.
On the net income side, the company reported net income of $183.1 million ($4.63 per diluted share), for the Q4 2011 compared to net income of $92.8 million ($2.13 per diluted share), for the Q4 2010.
Net income for the year ended Dec. 31, 2011 was $274.5 million ($6.92 per diluted share), compared to net income of $665.0 million ($13.32 per diluted share) for the year ended Dec. 31, 2010. AWH has reduced its shares outstanding by a whopping 23.1% in the past 12 months.
We have dipped into insurer Health Net several times in the last couple of years, buying it in May 2009 and selling a month later for a quick 9.71% gain, buying again in Sept. 2010 for a quick 8.36% gain, and in March 2011 for a 5% gain.
You'll recall that Health Net, based in Woodland Hills, Calif., is among the nation's largest publicly traded managed health care companies.
The company's health plans and government contracts subsidiaries provide health benefits to some 6 million individuals across the country through group, individual, Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE and Veterans Affairs programs.