Barclays Downgrades Chubb (NYSE:CB) to Equal Weight

Chubb (NYSE:CB) was downgraded by equities researchers at Barclays from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note issued on Monday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. They presently have a $298.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 5.68% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on CB. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Chubb from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $303.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Chubb from $316.00 to $314.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Chubb from $307.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Chubb from $268.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Chubb from $303.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Chubb currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $306.00.

Chubb Trading Up 0.7%

CB stock opened at $281.99 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $287.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $282.16. Chubb has a 52 week low of $251.42 and a 52 week high of $306.91. The company has a market capitalization of $113.00 billion, a PE ratio of 13.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.28.

Chubb (NYSE:CB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $12.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.22 billion. Chubb had a return on equity of 12.37% and a net margin of 15.05%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Chubb will post 21.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Chubb announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 15th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Chubb news, insider John J. Lupica sold 5,513 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.06, for a total transaction of $1,599,100.78. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 91,180 shares of the company’s stock, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO John W. Keogh sold 9,794 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.99, for a total transaction of $2,869,544.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 247,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 100,390 shares of company stock worth $29,163,135. Company insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Chubb

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in Chubb by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,350,381 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $373,110,000 after purchasing an additional 14,610 shares during the period. Canopy Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Chubb by 94.4% in the 4th quarter. Canopy Partners LLC now owns 4,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,331,000 after purchasing an additional 2,340 shares during the period. Vista Investment Partners II LLC bought a new stake in shares of Chubb in the 4th quarter valued at $2,442,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position 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 worth $760,853,000 after buying an additional 366,559 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Chubb by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,453,481 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,072,097,000 after buying an additional 271,648 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.81% of the company’s stock.

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.