EP Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Chubb Limited $CB

Key Points

• EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Chubb Limited by 98.6%, holding 15,230 shares valued at $4,599,000 after acquiring an additional 7,562 shares in the first quarter.
• Chubb reported a quarterly earnings per share of $6.14, exceeding expectations, and a revenue of $14.20 billion, up 6.3% year-over-year.
• The company has authorized a $5.00 billion share repurchase program, indicating management's belief that the stock is undervalued.

EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Chubb Limited (NYSE:CB - Free Report) by 98.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,230 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 7,562 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Chubb were worth $4,599,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Chubb by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,945 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $537,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Chubb during the 4th quarter worth $205,000. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG acquired a new stake in Chubb during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,320,000. Ancora Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Chubb by 15.5% in the fourth quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 895 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $247,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Chubb in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,543,000. Institutional investors own 83.81% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on CB shares. HSBC cut Chubb from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $317.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Chubb from $314.00 to $324.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Chubb from $285.00 to $267.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Evercore ISI set a $312.00 price objective on Chubb in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Chubb to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $302.00.

Chubb Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CB traded down $0.25 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $277.22. The company had a trading volume of 349,793 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,776,865. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $274.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $283.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.28. Chubb Limited has a 12 month low of $252.16 and a 12 month high of $306.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $110.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.56.

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

Chubb Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be issued a $0.97 dividend. This represents a $3.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. Chubb's dividend payout ratio is presently 17.12%.

Chubb declared that its board has approved a stock buyback 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John J. Lupica sold 5,513 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.06, for a total transaction of $1,599,100.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 91,180 shares in the company, valued at $26,447,670.80. The trade was a 5.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal 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 on Friday, July 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $269.80 per share, for a total transaction of $114,665.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 2,450 shares in the company, valued at $661,010. This trade represents a 20.99% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.