Citigroup Inc. Boosts Holdings in Chubb Limited (NYSE:CB)

Key Points

• Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in Chubb Limited by 79%, owning 631,628 shares valued at approximately $190.7 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Chubb recently reported a quarterly EPS of $6.14, exceeding analysts' expectations, with a revenue of $14.20 billion for the quarter, up 6.3% year-over-year.
• The company announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.97, now yielding 1.4%, and approved a stock repurchase plan allowing buybacks of up to $5 billion.

Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in shares of Chubb Limited (NYSE:CB - Free Report) by 79.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 631,628 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 278,697 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned about 0.16% of Chubb worth $190,745,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CB. Sunflower Bank N.A. boosted its holdings in Chubb by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 905 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in Chubb by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 783 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Tandem Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Chubb by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Tandem Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,382 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in Chubb by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,857 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,524,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Fortitude Advisory Group L.L.C. boosted its holdings in Chubb by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Fortitude Advisory Group L.L.C. now owns 798 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. 83.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Michael Corbat purchased 425 shares of Chubb stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $269.80 per share, for a total transaction of $114,665.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,450 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $661,010. The trade was a 20.99% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO John W. Keogh sold 85,083 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.24, for a total transaction of $24,694,489.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 237,728 shares in the company, valued at $68,998,174.72. This represents a 26.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 100,390 shares of company stock worth $29,163,135 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Chubb from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Chubb in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. HSBC cut shares of Chubb from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $317.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Barclays cut shares of Chubb from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $321.00 to $298.00 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Chubb from $304.00 to $292.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $301.50.

Chubb Price Performance

Shares of CB traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $271.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,276,299 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,176,768. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $280.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $282.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.28 and a quick ratio of 0.28. Chubb Limited has a fifty-two week low of $252.16 and a fifty-two week high of $306.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.58, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.53.

Chubb (NYSE:CB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $6.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.84 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $14.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.53 billion. Chubb had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.38 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Chubb Limited will post 21.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chubb announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Chubb Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $0.97 per share. This represents a $3.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This is a boost from Chubb's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Chubb's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.12%.

About Chubb

Chubb Limited provides insurance and reinsurance products worldwide. The company's North America Commercial P&C Insurance segment offers commercial property, casualty, workers' compensation, package policies, risk management, financial lines, marine, construction, environmental, medical risk, cyber risk, surety, and casualty; and group accident and health insurance to large, middle market, and small commercial businesses.