LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. Grows Holdings in Chubb Limited (NYSE:CB)

Key Points

• LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. increased its stake in Chubb Limited by 9.7% in the first quarter, now holding 40,685 shares valued at approximately $12.3 million.
• Multiple analysts have downgraded Chubb's rating and adjusted their price targets, with HSBC setting a new target at $300, down from $317.
• Chubb recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.97 per share and has authorized a $5 billion share buyback plan, indicating the board's confidence in the stock's value.

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. raised its stake in Chubb Limited (NYSE:CB - Free Report) by 9.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 40,685 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 3,590 shares during the period. Chubb accounts for 1.1% of LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.'s holdings in Chubb were worth $12,286,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Legato Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Chubb by 120.9% during the first quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 10,200 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,080,000 after acquiring an additional 5,582 shares during the last quarter. Davis Rea LTD. bought a new position in shares of Chubb during the first quarter valued at $5,117,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Chubb by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,753,719 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $760,853,000 after acquiring an additional 366,559 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Chubb by 3.3% during the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 43,280 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,070,000 after acquiring an additional 1,375 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Chubb by 9.1% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 549 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $166,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.81% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CB. Barclays downgraded shares of Chubb from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $321.00 to $298.00 in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Chubb to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday. HSBC downgraded shares of Chubb from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $317.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Chubb from $285.00 to $267.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Chubb from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $303.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Chubb presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $302.31.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO John W. Keogh sold 85,083 shares of Chubb stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 237,728 shares in the company, valued at $68,998,174.72. This trade represents a 26.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael Corbat acquired 425 shares of Chubb stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $269.80 per share, with a total value of $114,665.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 2,450 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $661,010. The trade was a 20.99% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 100,390 shares of company stock worth $29,163,135 over the last three months. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Chubb Stock Up 0.3%

CB traded up $0.76 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $275.80. The company had a trading volume of 1,054,090 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,194,648. Chubb Limited has a 52 week low of $252.16 and a 52 week high of $306.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market capitalization of $109.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.17, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.53. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $278.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $282.43.

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

Chubb Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.97 per share. This represents a $3.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Chubb's dividend payout ratio is currently 17.12%.

Chubb declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 15th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.