Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Chubb Limited (NYSE:CB)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Chubb Limited by 0.2%, owning about 9.12% of the company, valued at over $11 billion as of the end of the first quarter.
• Chubb has announced a $5 billion stock repurchase program, indicating the board's belief that the company's stock is undervalued.
• The company reported $6.14 EPS for the quarter, surpassing analyst expectations, with revenues of $14.20 billion, a 6.3% year-over-year increase.

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Chubb Limited (NYSE:CB - Free Report) by 0.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,528,842 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 75,361 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 9.12% of Chubb worth $11,031,345,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Demars Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Chubb by 26,761.4% during the fourth quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 5,360,455 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,481,094,000 after purchasing an additional 5,340,499 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Chubb by 36,831.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,084,033 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $629,357,000 after purchasing an additional 2,078,390 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of Chubb by 46.7% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 4,406,052 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,217,392,000 after buying an additional 1,403,545 shares during the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Chubb in the 4th quarter valued at about $336,972,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Chubb by 1,243.9% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 680,456 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $205,491,000 after buying an additional 629,822 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.81% of the company's stock.

Chubb Price Performance

CB traded down $0.49 on Thursday, hitting $269.14. 1,588,109 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,195,535. 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 cap of $107.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $280.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $282.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Chubb (NYSE:CB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $6.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.84 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $14.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.53 billion. Chubb had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.34%. Chubb's quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.38 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Chubb Limited will post 21.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Chubb Increases Dividend

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

Chubb announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 15th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on CB shares. HSBC lowered shares of Chubb from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $317.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Chubb from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Chubb from $285.00 to $267.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Chubb in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Chubb from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $301.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Michael Corbat purchased 425 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $269.80 per share, with a total value of $114,665.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,450 shares in the company, valued at $661,010. The trade was a 20.99% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO John W. Keogh sold 9,794 shares of Chubb stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.99, for a total transaction of $2,869,544.06. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 247,538 shares in the company, valued at $72,526,158.62. This trade represents a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 100,390 shares of company stock valued at $29,163,135 in the last three months. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Chubb Profile

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.