Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC Lowers Stake in Chubb Limited $CB

Key Points

• Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in Chubb Limited by 10.3%, selling 3,688 shares during the first quarter, leaving them with 32,252 shares valued at $9,740,000.
• Chubb recently reported better-than-expected earnings with an EPS of $6.14, exceeding estimates by $0.30, and revenues of $14.20 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.97 per share and a stock repurchase program authorizing up to $5 billion in buybacks, indicating management’s belief that the stock is undervalued.

Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Chubb Limited (NYSE:CB - Free Report) by 10.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 32,252 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,688 shares during the period. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC's holdings in Chubb were worth $9,740,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CB. GQG Partners LLC increased its holdings in Chubb by 112.1% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 9,394,018 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,836,899,000 after acquiring an additional 4,964,298 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Chubb by 36,831.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,084,033 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $629,357,000 after purchasing an additional 2,078,390 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Chubb during the first quarter valued at $562,221,000. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,403,545 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Chubb during the fourth quarter valued at $336,972,000. 83.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Chubb Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of Chubb stock traded down $1.4450 during trading on Friday, hitting $277.3750. The stock had a trading volume of 1,401,699 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,816,380. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $276.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $282.66. The stock has a market cap of $110.59 billion, a PE ratio of 12.24, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.53. 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 12 month low of $252.16 and a 12 month high of $306.91.

Chubb (NYSE:CB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $6.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.84 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $14.20 billion for 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.38 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Chubb Limited will post 21.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Chubb Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $3.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Chubb's dividend payout ratio is presently 17.12%.

Insider Transactions at Chubb

In other news, insider John J. Lupica sold 5,513 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.06, for a total value of $1,599,100.78. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 91,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,447,670.80. This represents a 5.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael Corbat purchased 425 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was bought 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 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.86% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on CB shares. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Chubb from $304.00 to $292.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Chubb from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $303.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Chubb from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Chubb from $314.00 to $324.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $312.00 target price on shares of Chubb in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. One 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 assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $302.00.

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.