Topic: How To Invest

Stock Pickers Digest Hotline – Friday, February 8, 2019

Article Excerpt

INTACT FINANCIAL CORP., $111.42, symbol IFC on Toronto, is Canada’s largest provider of property and casualty insurance. The company insures more than five million individuals and businesses. Its major brands are Intact Insurance, Canada BrokerLink and belairdirect. For the quarter ended December 31, 2018, revenue rose 4.3%, to $2.39 billion from $2.29 billion a year earlier. The gain in part reflects Intact’s September 2017 acquisition of OneBeacon Insurance Group for $1.7 billion U.S. Overall earnings per share in the quarter rose 18.4%, to $1.93 from $1.63. The profit increase was mainly due to a higher contribution from the company’s Canadian insurance lines as well as sound results for OneBeacon. That firm is a Minnesota-based property-casualty insurer and offers a range of specialty insurance products. Its policyholders include architects and engineers, as well as members of the marine, sports and entertainment industries. OneBeacon represents Intact’s entry into the U.S. market. That move, plus an acquisition of this size, adds risk. However, the firm looks like…