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Best Performing Stocks Of The Past Quarter

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 13:38:00 GMT

Back in early October I wrote in (Oct 1: Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide) how there simply was no asset class (ex US Treasuries and US Dollar), no sector, no country to hide in. Everything stunk, and in fact it got worse in the ensuing weeks. September, October, November 2008 might be the worst 3 months ever (I don't have the date) but if not, it has to be in the top 3. We used to run a weekly screen here to identify areas of relative strength - it's been useless for months on end. But for curiousity sake I ran it to see the best performers over the past quarter. Criteria Market capitalization $1.50B+ Average trading volume 100K+Stock price $10+Return this[More...]

Weekly Mergers and Acquisitions Report (11-17-08 to 11-21-2008)

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 12:54:00 GMT

NDS Group plc (NNDS) - News Corporation (NWS) : The European Commission officially started its review of this transaction yesterday, November 20. The EC has established a provisional review deadline of January 6, 2009 for this case (M.5274).[More...]

Weekly Mergers and Acquisitions Report - Oct 21 2008 9:08AM

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 12:51:00 GMT

Anheuser-Busch Cos. (BUD) - InBev, $Datascope Corp. (DSCP) - Getinge AB, Secure Computing Corporation (SCUR) - McAfee, Inc. (MFE), Barr Pharmaceuticals (BRL) - Teva Pharmaceutical (TEVA), NDS Group plc (NNDS) - News Corporation (NWS)[More...]

Best Perfomers Over Last Quarter

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 06:14:00 GMT

It is a moot point looking at weekly winners this week; just a handful of stocks moving up led by such growers as Campbell Soup (CPB) aka "people will still need to eat soup if nothing else" trade. So instead I am going to look at the best and worst performers the past 3 months. In this post we have every stock over $1.25B in market cap returning 15%+ (115 stocks) Now keep in mind the data is a bit misleading because 3 months ago at this time we were in the throes of another painful correction, in a series of step ladders down. About 90 days ago Fannie and Freddie and Lehman were falling off a cliff, and we were just over a week away from Hank Paulson going to Congress to create a plan to backup Fannie/Freddie. So this was a "bottom" and the financials rallied hard for the next 6-7 weeks - Fannie/Freddie of course were officially taken over within 2 months from that point.[More...]

Don’t Overpay for Insurance M&A

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 16:25:00 GMT

I’ve been mulling over whether I should write about insurance M&A. Ugh, yes, I should say something. What pushed me over the edge was a piecein the WSJ on the purchase of Philadelphia Consolidated. When I first heard about the deal, I blinked, and said, “Foreign acquirer overpays to enter the US.” Is Philly a good company? It’s a great company, but it may not be so under foreign ownership. And, the price was well in excess of what it would have taken to create/attract the talent for a new venture. Paying 2.7x book is not a winner.But, the have been other missteps as well recently. Liberty Mutual buys Safeco and Ohio Casualty for 1.8x and 1.6x book. High prices for the assets obtained, and Liberty Mutual can’t lever that much as a mutual[More...]

80 Stocks Returning 8%+ this Week

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 05:45:46 GMT

Our daily look into the weekly top gainers shows a big difference this week than most of the year - a lot of smaller issues in the $2-$3B market cap made the list and as I signaled mid week, we are seeing some return to the retailers, and financials. Last[More...]

Movers: Costco, Yahoo, WaMu, Boeing, EMC, VMware

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:46:00 GMT

Costco Wholesale (COST) sees fourth quarter EPS well below current First Call consensus estimate of $1.00.
Yahoo (YHOO) posts $0.10, vs. $0.12 a year ago, second quarter non-GAAP EPS as higher operating expenses offset 5.9% higher revenues.
Washington Mutual (WM) reports, excluding $3.24 per share reduction to earnings due to capital issuance, $3.34 second quarter loss per share, vs. EPS of $0.92 a year ago.

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Bala Cynwyd Insurer is Sold: Philadelphia Consolidated Holding, Around Since the '50s, is to Be Bought By Tokio Marine Holdings for $4.4 Billion Cash

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 10:03:00 GMT

Jul. 24--James J. Maguire had his first success in insurance by using sign language to sell life insurance to deaf people in the late 1950s.
Now, he is selling what he built into a publicly traded insurance company in Bala Cynwyd to a Japanese insurance giant for $4.4 billion in cash, one of the largest deals ever by a Japanese buyer in the United States, according to Standard & Poor's.
Tokio Marine Holdings Inc. said yesterday that it would pay $61.50 per share for Philadelphia Consolidated Holding Corp. The price is 73 percent more than the company's closing price Tuesday of $35.55.

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Philadelphia Consolidated Holding Corp. Announces the Closing of its Merger with Tokio Marine

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 12:59:00 GMT

Philadelphia Consolidated Holding Corp. announced that the closing of its merger with a subsidiary of Tokio Marine Holdings, Inc. occurred today. Under the terms of the Merger Agreement, the Company's shareholders will receive $61.50 per share in cash, and the Company will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Tokio Marine Holdings, Inc.[More...]

Philadelphia Insurance Companies Is Committed to the Non-Profit Industry

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 19:13:00 GMT

Philadelphia Insurance Companies Announces 16th Annual Turkey Trot[More...]

Philadelphia Insurance Companies Partners with Provident Agency, Inc.

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 16:20:00 GMT

Insurance Program Aims to Protect Members of Volunteer Fire Departments[More...]

Standard & Poor's Announces Changes to U.S. Indices - 25-11-08

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 22:12:00 GMT

Standard and Poor's will make the following changes to the S&P MidCap 400 and S&P SmallCap 600 indices after the close of trading on Monday, December 1:[More...]

Philadelphia Consolidated Holding Corp. Announces Approval of Merger with Tokio Marine by the Financial Services Agency of Japan

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:09:00 GMT

Philadelphia Consolidated Holding Corp. today announced that Tokio Marine Holdings, Inc. received approval of its proposed acquisition of control of the Company from the Financial Services Agency of Japan.[More...]

Philadelphia Insurance Companies Announces Appointment of Susan Doering

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 18:11:00 GMT

Christopher J. Maguire, Executive Vice President and COO of Philadelphia Insurance Companies announced that Susan Doering has joined PHLY as a Vice President in the Specialty Lines/ Environmental Underwriting Division. In this position, Doering will work with senior management and clients to start a Full Service Environmental Underwriting Division. She brings 15 years of experience in the environmental insurance industry to Philadelphia Insurance Companies. Prior to joining PHLY, Ms. Doering was a Vice President with AIG managing a large account business development team. She also oversaw marketing, product development, sales and underwriting training, field operations and strategic partnerships at Kemper Environmental during its start-up. Ms. Doering holds a bachelor's degree in Biology from the University of Pennsylvania.[More...]

Philadelphia Consolidated Holding Corp. Announces Approval of Merger with Tokio Marine by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 17:20:00 GMT

Philadelphia Consolidated Holding Corp. today announced that Tokio Marine Holdings, Inc. received approval of its proposed acquisition of control of the Company from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation.[More...]

Philadelphia Consolidated Holding Corp. Shareholders Approve Merger with Tokio Marine

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 19:17:00 GMT

The shareholders of Philadelphia Consolidated Holding Corp. approved a proposal at today's Special Meeting of Shareholders to adopt the Agreement and Plan of Merger dated as of July 22, 2008 among the Company, Tokio Marine Holdings, Inc. and Tokio Marine Investment Inc. . Over 77% of the outstanding shares of Company common stock voted on the proposal to adopt the Merger Agreement at the Special Meeting, and over 99% of these votes were in favor of the proposal. Under the terms of the Merger Agreement, Tokio Marine Investment Inc. will merge with and into the Company and Tokio Marine will acquire all outstanding shares of the Company for $61.50 per share, in cash.[More...]

Philadelphia Consolidated Holding Corp. Third Quarter Results September 30, 2008

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 15:53:00 GMT

Philadelphia Consolidated Holding Corp. today reported net income for the quarter ended September 30, 2008 of $50.0 million . This compares to $96.2 million of net income for the quarter ended September 30, 2007. After-tax net realized investment gains were $ million for the quarter ended September 30, 2008 compared to $1.8 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2007. Gross written premiums for the quarter ended September 30, 2008 increased 9.8% to $553.9 million from $504.6 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2007, and the combined ratio for the quarter ended September 30, 2008 was 86.0% compared to 68.5% for the quarter ended September 30, 2007. The Company's book value per share as of September 30, 2008 increased to $22.38 from $21.47 as of December 31, 2007.[More...]

Philadelphia Insurance Companies Slam Dunk for Cancer

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 18:58:00 GMT

Philadelphia Insurance Companies "Team PHLY" and Philly's "BIG 5 Coaches" will tip off for the American Cancer Society at the Palestra in Philadelphia on October 10, 2008 at 5:30 PM.[More...]