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Top Specialty Retail Stocks To Buy For 2015: Aspen Insurance Holdings Ltd (AHL)
Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited (Aspen Holdings), incorporated on May 23, 2002, is a holding company. The Company conducts insurance and reinsurance business through its subsidiaries in three jurisdictions: Aspen Insurance UK Limited (Aspen U.K.) and Aspen Underwriting Limited (AUL), corporate member of Syndicate 4711 at Lloyd�� of London (United Kingdom), Aspen Bermuda Limited (Aspen Bermuda) and Aspen Specialty Insurance Company (Aspen Specialty) and Aspen American Insurance Company (AAIC). Aspen U.K. also has branches in Paris (France), Zurich (Switzerland), Dublin (Ireland), Cologne (Germany), Singapore, Australia and Canada. It operates in the global markets for property and casualty insurance and reinsurance. It manages its insurance and reinsurance businesses as two distinct underwriting segments, Aspen Insurance and Aspen Reinsurance (Aspen Re), to serve its global customer base. Its insurance segment is consisted of property, casualty, marine, energy and transportation insurance and financial and professional lines insurance. Its reinsurance segment is consisted of property reinsurance (catastrophe and other), casualty reinsurance and specialty reinsurance. In April 2013, the reinsurance segment of the Company announced the formation of a new division, Aspen Capital Markets.
In the Company�� insurance segment, property, casualty and financial and professional lines insurance business is written in the London Market through Aspen U.K. and in the United States through Aspen Specialty and AAIC. Its marine, energy and transportation insurance business is written through Aspen U.K. and AUL, which is the corporate member of Syndicate 4711 at Lloyd�� of London (Lloyd��), managed by Aspen Managing Agency Limited (AMAL). It also writes casualty business through AUL. In reinsurance, property reinsurance business is assumed by Aspen Bermuda and Aspen U.K. The property reinsurance business written in the United States is written by Aspen Re America and ARA-CA as reinsurance intermed! iaries with offices in Connecticut, Illinois, Florida, New York, Georgia and California. The business written in the United States is produced by Aspen Re America.
Reinsurance
The Company�� reinsurance segment consists of property catastrophe reinsurance, other property reinsurance (risk excess, pro rata, risk solutions and facultative), casualty reinsurance (the United States treaty, international treaty and global facultative) and specialty reinsurance (credit and surety, structured, agriculture and specialty). Property catastrophe reinsurance is written on a treaty excess of loss basis where it provides protection to an insurer for an agreed portion of the total losses from a single event in excess of a specified loss amount. In the event of a loss, contracts provide for coverage of a second occurrence following the payment of a premium to reinstate the coverage under the contract, which is referred to as a reinstatement premium. The coverage provided under excess of loss reinsurance contracts may be on a global basis or limited in scope to selected regions or geographical areas.
Other property reinsurance includes risk excess of loss and proportional treaty reinsurance, facultative or single risk reinsurance and its risk solutions business. Risk excess of loss reinsurance provides coverage to a reinsured where it experiences a loss in excess of its retention level on a single risk basis. Proportional contracts involve close client relationships, including regular audits of the cedants��data. Its risk solutions business writes property insurance risks for a select group of the United States program managers. Casualty reinsurance is written on an excess of loss, proportional and facultative basis and consists of the United States treaty, international treaty and casualty facultative. Its United States treaty business consists of exposures to workers��compensation (including catastrophe), medical malpractice, general liability, auto liability, professional l! iability ! and excess liability, including umbrella liability. Its international treaty business reinsures exposures respect to general liability, auto liability, professional liability, workers��compensation and excess liability.
Specialty reinsurance is written on an excess of loss and proportional basis and consists of credit and surety reinsurance, structured risks, agriculture reinsurance and other specialty lines. Its credit and surety reinsurance business consists of trade credit reinsurance, international surety reinsurance (mainly European, Japanese and Latin American risks and excluding the United States) and a political risks portfolio. Its agricultural reinsurance business is written on a treaty basis covering crop and multi-peril business. Other specialty lines include reinsurance treaties and some insurance policies covering policyholders��interests in marine, energy, liability aviation, space, contingency, terrorism, nuclear, personal accident and crop reinsurance. A percentage of the property reinsurance contracts it writes exclude coverage for losses arising from the peril of terrorism. These contracts exclude coverage protecting against nuclear, biological or chemical attack.
The Company competes Arch Capital Group Ltd., Axis Capital Holdings Limited (Axis), Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd. (Endurance), Everest Re Group Limited, Lancashire Holdings Limited, Montpelier Re Holdings Limited, PartnerRe Ltd., Platinum Underwriters Holdings Ltd., Renaissance Re Holdings Ltd., Validus Holdings Ltd., XL Capital Ltd. (XL) and various Lloyd�� syndicates.
Insurance
The Company�� insurance segment consists of property insurance, casualty insurance, marine, energy and transportation insurance and financial and professional lines insurance. Its property insurance line comprises the United Kingdom commercial property and construction business and the United States property business. Property insurance provides physical damage and business interruption! coverage! for losses arising from weather, fire, theft and other causes. The United States commercial property team covers mercantile, manufacturing, municipal and commercial real estate business. The United States property also includes its program business, which writes property insurance risks for a select group of the United States program managers. The United Kingdom commercial team�� client base is predominantly the United Kingdom institutional property owners, middle market corporates and public sector clients.
The Company�� casualty insurance line comprises commercial liability, global excess casualty, the United States casualty insurance and environmental liability, written on a primary, quota share and facultative basis. Commercial liability is written in the United Kingdom and provides employers��liability coverage and public liability coverage for insureds domiciled in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The global excess casualty line comprises risk-managed insureds globally and covers risks at points, including general liability, commercial and residential construction liability, life science, railroads, trucking, product and public liability and associated types of cover found in general liability policies in the global insurance market. The United States casualty account consists of lines written within the general liability and umbrella liability insurance sectors. Coverage on its general liability line is offered on those risks that are miscellaneous, products liability, contractors (general contractors and artisans), real estate and retail risks and other general liability business. The United States environmental account provides contractors��pollution liability and pollution legal liability across industry segments that have environmental regulatory drivers and contractual requirements for coverage, including real estate and public entities, contractors and engineers, energy contractors and environmental contractors and consultants. The business is written in both the primar! y and exc! ess insurance markets.
The Company�� marine, energy and transportation insurance line comprises marine, energy and construction (M.E.C.) liability, energy physical damage, marine hull, specie, inland marine and ocean risks and aviation, written on a primary, quota share and facultative basis. The M.E.C. liability business includes marine liability cover related to the liabilities of ship-owners and port operators, including reinsurance of Protection and Indemnity Clubs (P&I Clubs). It also provides liability cover for companies in the oil and gas sector, both onshore and offshore and in the power generation and the United States commercial construction sectors. Energy physical damage provides insurance cover against physical damage losses in addition to Operators Extra Expenses (OEE) for companies operating in the oil and gas exploration and production sector. The marine hull team insures physical damage for ships (including war and associated perils) and related marine assets. The specie business line focuses on the insurance of property items on an all risks basis, including fine art, general and bank related specie, jewelers��block and armored car. The inland marine and ocean cargo team writes business covering builders��construction risk, contractors��equipment, transportation and ocean cargo risks in addition to exhibition, fine arts and museums insurance.
The aviation team writes physical damage insurance on hulls and spares (including war and associated perils) and comprehensive legal liability for airlines, smaller operators of airline equipment, airports and associated business and non-critical component part manufacturers. It also provides aviation hull deductible cover. Its financial and professional lines comprise financial institutions, professional liability (including management and technology liability), financial and political risks and the United States surety risks, written on a primary, quota share and facultative basis. Its financial institutions ! business ! is written on both a primary and excess of loss basis and consists of professional liability, crime insurance and directors��and officers��(D&O) cover. It covers financial institutions, including commercial and investment banks, asset managers, insurance companies, stockbrokers and insureds with hybrid business models. Its professional liability business is written out of the United States (including Errors and Omissions (E&O)), the United Kingdom and Switzerland and is written on both a primary and excess of loss basis.
The Company insures a range of professions, including lawyers, accountants, architects and engineers. Its management and technology liability teams write on both a primary and excess basis D&O insurance, technology-related policies in the areas of network privacy, misuse of data and cyber liability and warranty and indemnity insurance in connection with, or to facilitate, corporate transactions. The financial and political risks team writes business covering the credit/default risk on a range of project and trade transactions, as well as political risks, terrorism (including multi-year war on land cover), piracy and kidnap and ransom (K&R). It writes financial and political risks globally but with concentrations in a range of countries, such as Russia, China, Brazil, the Netherlands and United States. Its surety team writes commercial surety risks, admiralty bonds and similar maritime undertakings, including federal and public official bonds, license and permits and fiduciary and miscellaneous bonds and privately owned companies in the United States.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Anna Prior]
Aspen Insurance Holdings Ltd.(AHL) said it expects second-quarter operating earnings above Wall Street projections, citing “the continued excellent performance across our businesses.”
- [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Equities Trading UP
Aspen Insurance Holdings (NYSE: AHL) shares shot up 11.33 percent to $43.83 after Endurance Specialty Holdings (NYSE: ENH) offered to buy Aspen Insurance for $47.50 per share in a cash and stock deal. - [By Sally Jones] % over 12 months, Aspen Insurance Holdings Ltd. has a market cap of $2.63 billion; its shares were traded at around $40.06 with a P/E ratio of 13.50. The dividend yield is 1.80%.
The GuruFocus analysis for AHL shows six warning signs.
Track historical share pricing, revenue and net income:
[ Enlarge Image ]
Guru Action: As of Sept. 30, 2013, Arnold Schneider reduced his position by 89.42%, selling 109,081 shares at an average price of $36.77, for a gain of 8.9%.
Over five quarters, Schneider has averaged a 28% gain on 166,209 shares bought at an average price of $31.34 per share. He gained 8% selling 153,305 shares at an average price of $37.03 per share.
Guru Action: As of Sept. 30, 2013, Jim Simons increased his position by 387.47%, buying 501,000 shares at an average price of $36.77, for a gain of 8.9%. His current shares are 630,300.
Over five years, Simons has sold out three times. He has averaged a 15% gain on 876,900 shares bought at an average price of $34.82 per share. He gained 13% on 246,600 shares sold at an average price of $35.35 per share.
Guru Action: As of Sept. 30, 2013, Steven Cohen increased his position by 190.15%, buying 15,037 shares at an average price of $36.77, for a gain of 8.9%. His current shares are 22,945.
Cohen has averaged an 18% gain on 36,658 shares bought at an average price of $33.98 per share. He gained 22% on 13,713 shares sold at an average price of $32.85 per share.
Guru Action: As of Sept. 30, 2013, top guru stakeholder David Einhorn reduced his position by 36.93%, selling 1,451,581 shares at an average price of $36.77, for a gain of 8.6%. This trade impacts his portfolio by -1%. His current shares are 2,478,935 or 3.67% of shares outstanding.
Over five years, Einhorn has averaged a 67% gain on 5,700,182 shares bought at an average price of $23.88 per share. He gained 15% on 3,221,247 shares sold at an average price of $34.57 per share.
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Best Heal Care Companies To Watch For 2014: New York & Company Inc.(NWY)
New York & Company, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a specialty retailer of women's fashion apparel and accessories in the United States. The company offers a range of wear-to-work, and casual apparel and accessories, including pants, jackets, knit tops, blouses, sweaters, denim, T-shirts, activewear, handbags, and jewelry. It sells its products under the New York & Company, Lerner, Lerner New York, New York Style, City Stretch, City Style, and NY&C brand names. The company sells its branded merchandise through its network of retail stores and E-commerce store at nyandcompany.com. As of March 15, 2012, it operated 532 stores in 43 states. The company, formerly known as NY & Co. Group, Inc., was founded in 1918 and is headquartered in New York, New York.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Sue Chang]
New York & Co. (NWY) �is likely to post earnings of 10 cents a share in the fourth quarter.
- [By Anna Prior]
New York & Co(NWY).’s fiscal third-quarter loss narrowed as the women’s apparel retailer recorded comparable-store-sales growth and benefited from lower costs.
- [By Jeremy Bowman]
What: Shares of New York & Company (NYSE: NWY ) were looking sharp, gaining as much as 10% two market days after reporting earnings, as Janney Montgomery Scott today reaffirmed its buy rating and upped its price target by 50% to $6.
Best Heal Care Companies To Watch For 2014: Templeton Emerging Markets Fund (EMF)
Templeton Emerging Markets Fund (the Fund) is a diversified, closed-end investment company. The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation by investing at least 80% of its net assets in emerging country equity securities. It makes investments in China, Brazil, South Korea, Turkey, Russia, Thailand, India, Taiwan, Hungary and South Africa. The Fund invests in sectors, such as metals and mining, commercial banks, diversified financial services, semiconductors and semiconductor equipment, wireless telecommunication services, and oil, gas and consumable fuels.
Templeton Asset Management Ltd. (TAML) serves as the Fund�� investment manager. Its administrative manager is Franklin Templeton Services, LLC. The Fund may invest in the Franklin Institutional Fiduciary Trust Money Market Portfolio (the Sweep Money Fund), an open-end investment company managed by Franklin Advisers, Inc. (an affiliate of TAML).
Advisors' Opinion:- [By George Putnam, Editor, New Generation Research, Inc.]
Templeton Emerging Markets Fund (EMF) is also actively managed. Currently, the fund is Asian-centric with about 71% of assets from Asian markets, mostly China and Thailand.
Best Heal Care Companies To Watch For 2014: Nomura Holdings Inc (NRSCF)
Nomura Holdings, Inc. is engaged in the investment and financial services business with a focus on securities business. The Company's business operations include financing, asset management, securities trading and brokerage, underwriting and sale of securities, private placement of securities, own funds Investment activities, and other securities and finance-related activities. As of March 31, 2013, the Company owned 738 consolidated subsidiaries. Advisors' Opinion:- [By WWW.MARKETWATCH.COM]
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Japanese stocks have ended with losses in every session this week, and sure enough, the Nikkei Average (JP:NIK) was down 0.6% in early Friday trade, though off an opening 0.8% defecit, while the Topix carried a 0.7% loss. Overnight losses for the U.S. and further strength in the yen (with the dollar falling to 楼101.28 from 楼101.56 a day earlier) helped drag the market lower, as did results from Fast Retailing Co. (JP:9983) (FRCOF) , the shares of which hold the heaviest weighting on Nikkei Average. Fast Retailing said that while its Uniqlo brand was doing great business, weakness for its J Brand luxury demin label helped send September-May profit down 4% and prompted another cut to Fast's full-year outlook. Consequently, its shares traded 0.7% lower, though rivals Takashimaya Co. (JP:8233) and J. Front Retailing Co. (JP:3086) (JFROF) also saw losses of 0.6% and 0.5%, respectively. Among other decliners, Sony Corp. (JP:6758) (SNE) lost 0.7%, Toshiba Corp. (JP:6502) (TOSYY) fell 2.1%, Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. (JP:7012) (KWHIY) fell 1.5%, Toyota Motor Corp. (JP:7203) (TM) and Nissan Motor Co. (JP:7201)
Best Heal Care Companies To Watch For 2014: Quanta Services Inc.(PWR)
Quanta Services, Inc. provides specialty contracting services primarily in North America. The company?s Electric Power Infrastructure Services segment designs, installs, upgrades, repairs, and maintains electric power transmission and distribution networks, and substation facilities; renewable energy generation facilities; and offers emergency restoration services, including repairing infrastructure to the electric power industry. Its Natural Gas and Pipeline Infrastructure Services segment designs, installs, repairs, and maintains natural gas and oil transmission and distribution systems, compressor and pump stations, and gas gathering systems, as well as offers related trenching, directional boring, and automatic welding services; and pipeline protection, integrity testing, rehabilitation and replacement, and fabrication of pipeline support systems, and related structures and facilities. This segment also provides airport fueling systems, and water and sewer infrastruct ure. It services customers engaged in the transportation of natural gas, oil, and other pipeline products. The company?s Telecommunications Infrastructure Services segment designs, installs, repairs, and maintains fiber optic, copper, and coaxial cable networks for video, data and voice transmission; and designs, installs, and upgrades wireless communications networks, including towers, switching systems, and backhaul links, as well as offers emergency restoration services. This segment serves customers in the wireline and wireless telecommunications, and cable television industries. Its Fiber Optic Licensing segment designs, procures, constructs, owns, and maintains fiber optic telecommunications infrastructure; and markets and licenses the right to use these point-to-point fiber optic telecommunications facilities. It provides its services to enterprise, education, carrier, financial services, and healthcare customers. The company was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Seth Jayson]
Calling all cash flows
When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Quanta Services (NYSE: PWR ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below. - [By Chad Tracy]
TransCanada is not the only company that stands to profit from the possible Keystone XL approval. Refiners such as Valero and LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE: LYB), as well as construction companies Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) and Quanta Services (NYSE: PWR) all stand to gain if Keystone XL gets the green light.
Best Heal Care Companies To Watch For 2014: LCNB Corp (LCNB)
LCNB Corp. (LCNB), incorporated on December 12, 1998, is a financial holding company. The Company�� principal activity is the ownership of LCNB National Bank (the Bank). The Bank is a full service community bank offering a range of commercial and personal banking services. Deposit services include checking accounts, negotiable order of withdrawal (NOW) accounts, savings accounts, Christmas and vacation club accounts, money market deposit accounts, Classic 50 accounts (a senior citizen program), individual retirement accounts, and certificates of deposit. Loan products offered include commercial and industrial loans, commercial and residential real estate loans, construction loans, various types of consumer loans, and Small Business Administration loans. In January 2014, Eaton National Bank & Trust Co. merged with LCNB Corp.'s wholly-owned subsidiary, LCNB National Bank.
The Bank's residential mortgage lending activities consist primarily of loans for purchasing or refinancing personal residences, home equity lines of credit, and loans for commercial or consumer purposes secured by residential mortgages. Consumer lending activities include automobile, boat, home improvement and personal loans. The Bank also offers indirect financing through various automotive, boat, and lawn and garden dealers. The Trust and Investment Management Division of the Bank performs complete trust administrative functions and offers agency and trust services, retirement savings products, and mutual fund investment products to individuals, partnerships, corporations, institutions and municipalities.
Security brokerage services are offered by the Bank through arrangements with LPL Financial LLC, a registered broker/dealer. Licensed brokers offer a full range of investment services and products, including financial needs analysis, mutual funds, securities trading, annuities, and life insurance.
Other services offered include safe deposit boxes, night depositories, travelers' checks, money! orders, cashier's checks, bank-by-mail, automated teller machines (ATMs), cash and transaction services, debit cards, wire transfers, electronic funds transfer, utility bill collections, notary public service, personal computer based cash management services, around-the-clock telephone banking, PC Internet banking, and other services tailored for both individuals and businesses. LCNB�� primary market area consists of Warren, Butler, and Clinton Counties and portions of Hamilton, Clermont and Montgomery Counties in Southwestern Ohio.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Lisa Levin]
LCNB (NASDAQ: LCNB) shares touched a new 52-week low of $16.57. LCNB shares have dropped 4.80% over the past 52 weeks, while the S&P 500 index has gained 18.57% in the same period.
Best Heal Care Companies To Watch For 2014: Kansas City Southern (KSU)
Kansas City Southern, through its subsidiaries, engages primarily in the freight rail transportation business. It operates north/south rail between Kansas City, Missouri, and various ports along the Gulf of Mexico in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas in the midwest and southeast regions of the United States. The company also operates direct rail passageway between Mexico City and Laredo in Texas, serving various Mexico?s industrial cities and 3 of its shipping ports; and a 157-mile rail line extending from Laredo, Texas to the port city of Corpus Christi, Texas, as well as owns the northern half of the rail bridge at Laredo, Texas. In addition, Kansas City Southern holds a concession to operate a 47-mile railroad located adjacent to the Panama Canal, as well as operates and promotes commuter and tourist passenger services. Further, the company operates a bulk materials handling facility with deep-water access to the Gulf of Mexico at Port Arthur, Texas that stores and transfers petroleum coke from rail cars to ships primarily for export; and a railroad wood tie treatment facility. It serves customers conducting business in various industries, including electric-generating utilities, chemical and petroleum products, industrial and consumer products, agriculture and mineral products, automotive products, and intermodal freight transportation. The company was formerly known as Kansas City Southern Industries, Inc. and changed its name to Kansas City Southern in 2002. Kansas City Southern was founded in 1962 and is based in Kansas City, Missouri.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Dan Caplinger]
But CSX has recognized the potential of moving important commodities like crops and oil from the center of the country to the East Coast. The success that Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP ) has had in transporting oil across the country has inspired plenty of copycat moves from its railroad rivals as they all seek to make up for lost revenue elsewhere. For its part, CSX expects to spend $2.3 billion on infrastructure improvements like higher bridges, larger tunnels, and improving clearance to allow for double-decker-container transport to ports on the Atlantic coast. Kansas City Southern (NYSE: KSU ) is also trying to capitalize on this trend, with its own plans to spend half a billion dollars on capital expenditures this year.
- [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Kansas City Southern (NYSE: KSU) were down 15.32 percent to $99.22 after the company reported downbeat Q4 earnings. International Game Technology (NYSE: IGT) shares tumbled 14.16 percent to $15.15 after the company reported weaker-than-expected fiscal first-quarter results. Sterne Agee downgraded the stock from Buy to Neutral and cut the price target from $21.50 to $18.00. First Niagara Financial Group (NASDAQ: FNFG) was down, falling 10.79 percent to $9.22 on Q4 results. The company issued weak FY14 earnings outlook. - [By Sara Murphy]
CSX (NYSE: CSX ) and Kansas City Southern (NYSE: KSU ) are all over the eastern seaboard, and they're both getting skin in the game. CSX plans to spend $2.3 billion on wide-ranging expansion activities such as raising highway bridges, enlarging mountain tunnels, and clearing obstacles to make room for double-decker containers from the Midwest to the mid-Atlantic ports.
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