: iStockAnalyst.com Symbols Feed

U.S. Insurance Industry - Apr 24 2009 3:06PM

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 18:57:44 GMT

Ongoing turmoil in the financial markets has resulted in a highly challenging environment for the U.S. insurance industry -- a trend that is expected to continue at least through the end of the current year. We also expect further consolidation in the industry. Life Insurers Increased losses in the investment portfolio and lower income from the variable annuity business will continue to hurt earnings. Further, most life insurers have substantial exposure to commercial-real-estate-backed loans and securities, which will result in further losses in the coming quarters. The Industry's statutory capital levels have fallen sharply and some companies are trying to raise capital through the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP). Treasury has stated that some of the life insurers may qualify for TARP because of their Bank Holding Company status.[More...]

Entertainment Properties (EPR): Load Up, Or Lights Off?

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 13:53:00 GMT

One area I have been looking to invest in is convertibles (bonds or preferred stock) – the yield component is appealing in distressed securities, and the embedded call option can offer upside exposure to some decent businesses. Although I’ve been enjoying the benefits of having a higher cash balance and little equity exposure, I hold cash to make strategic purchases, not as an end itself. Those of you who have read what I’ve written regarding Primus (PRS, PRD) know that I’m a fan of “stress testing” in circumstances where it’s possible – basically, seeing what kind of hit is priced into a company’s stock. In this case, the company had a nice dividing line between its traditional core assets and a handful[More...]

Primus Guaranty (PRS) Earnings Notes

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 00:43:00 GMT

Today, Primus Guaranty released its earnings – I still own both the holding company’s debt (PRD) and the stock (PRS). As background, Primus Guaranty is a holding company with a subsidiary (Primus Financial Products, or PFP) that was formerly an AAA/Aaa-rated counterparty selling credit default swaps (CDS). To increase acronym density, PFP is a Credit Derivative Products Company (CDPC), and as such does not need to post collateral should a CDS contract move against them. This, along with the long-dated maturities of the company’s debt (first maturity in 2021), means that liquidity risk is minimal. In the last several months, PFP has been downgraded by the ratings agencies – a formal nail[More...]

U.S. Insurance Industry - Jan 2 2009 3:09PM

Fri, 02 Jan 2009 21:03:00 GMT

Ongoing turmoil in the financial markets has resulted in a highly challenging environment for the U.S. insurance industry, a trend that is expected to continue in 2009. We also expect further consolidation in the industry. Life Insurers Increased losses in the investment portfolio and lower income from the variable annuity business will continue to hurt earnings. The Industry's statutory capital levels have fallen sharply in 2008 and some companies are trying to raise capital through the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP). We are not sure whether the lawmakers will allow the insurers access to TARP money. Further, many life insurers have substantial exposure to commercial-real-estate-backed securities, which will result in further losses during FY09. ? Property & Casualty[More...]

Primus: More Downward Pressure - Analyst Blog

Mon, 08 Dec 2008 18:45:00 GMT

Headquartered in Bermuda, Primus Guaranty Ltd. (PRS) sells credit swaps as protection against the risk of default on investment grade obligations. The primary purchasers of credit swaps are commercial and investment banks as well as portfolio managers, insurance companies, and other financial institutions seeking to reduce the credit risk exposure in their fixed-income security portfolios. During October 2008, Primus Financial, the issuing subsidiary was downgraded by both S&P and Moody's to AA+ and AA1 (from AAA and Aaa ) respectively, with negative implications. Additionally, S&P and Moody's downgraded the 7% notes issued by Primus Guaranty to "BB" and "BA1", respectively. In view of the challenging conditions, the company has decided to manage its business in the[More...]

Primus : At the Center Of CDS Storm

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 17:07:00 GMT

The number of high-profile defaults of late from Lehman (LEH) and Washington Mutual (WM), combined with the technical defaults of Fannie (FNM) and Freddie (FRE) and a ratings downgrade of [More...]

Earnings Preview For Nov 3 - 7 - Earnings Preview

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 01:58:00 GMT

Companies that could issue positive surprises include Becton, Dickinson and Company (BDX), SucessFactors (SFSF) and Sunoco (SUN). Penn Virginia Corporation (PVA) could potentially disappoint investors. The Week's Events November has historically been one of the best months for the major markets, according to the[More...]

Banks, Financials & Insurance

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 22:12:00 GMT

For the next 6 to 12 months, assuming that GDP growth is slightly negative for the next 3 or 4 quarters but the credit markets begin to function again, the following is our outlook on banks, financial services companies and insurance companies. Not much has been/can be done about the fundamental cause of the crisis -- the steep decline in the housing prices (we may only be halfway through the decline), which will continue to hurt the profitability of all financial institutions that hold mortgages and mortgage-backed securities. Banks & Financial Services * Banks still do not have trust in each other, and the moves by the Treasury and Fed to get the banks to start lending to each other have failed so far. The U.K. government took the big step of providing guarantees on interbank loans. It is expected that the U.S. regulators will also[More...]

Analyst Comments: Philips, Cepheid, National Semi, Heritage-Crystal, Primus Guaranty, Reddy Ice, BioSphere, PS Business Parks, ArvinMeritor, Bristol-Myers, Echelon, LSI Corp

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 06:18:00 GMT

Headquartered in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (PHG) is one of the world's largest electronics companies and the biggest in Europe, with sales of 27 billion in 2007 and 12.4 billion in 1H08. The company has worked to improve its cost structure, as its EBITA margins remained flat along with modest revenue performance despite the weaker-than-expected dollar. Based on these results, we are maintaining our revenue estimates for 2008. We continue to rate the shares of PHG a Hold with a price target of $28.50 per share over the next six months. This amounts to between 6.7x-6.9x our new 2008 EPS estimate of $4.19. Udayan Mukherjee contributed to this report. Read[More...]

S&P to Rally if Financials Hold

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 03:17:00 GMT

[More...]

Primus Guaranty Announces Bond Buyback Program for 7% Senior Notes

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 21:31:00 GMT

Primus Guaranty, Ltd. (NYSE:PRS) announced today that its Board of Directors has authorized the use of up to $10 million of available cash to repurchase the company's 7% senior notes due 2036 (NYSE:PRD), from time to time in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions at prices and upon terms approved by management.[More...]

Pacific Rodera Energy completes sale of Trutch assets

Fri, 30 May 2008 18:00:00 GMT

CALGARY, May 30 /CNW/ - Pacific Rodera Energy Inc. (TSX Venture: PRD), ("Pacific Rodera" or the "Company") announced today that it has completed the sale of its 8% working interest in the Trutch property for $2.2 million cash less certain adjustments. The production attributed to Pacific Rodera's working interest in these properties represented approximately 45 boes of production per day. The sale of such a low working interest is consistent with Pacific Rodera's objective of only being involved in high working interest, operated properties. With these sale proceeds, Pacific Rodera has approximately $24.6 million cash on hand, no debt and excellent connections to the capital markets.[More...]

Form 4 BROWN THOMAS K For: Oct 14 (10K)

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 00:26:00 GMT

[More...]