Intact’s focus on Canada’s relatively mature market tends to use acquisitions to fuel its growth. That’s riskier than increasing revenue through existing businesses.
However, the company has a long history of successfully integrating these new operations and improving their performance. Thanks to that track record, it continues to reward its shareholders: Note, your annual dividend rate has risen every year for the past 21 years.
Meanwhile, the stock trades at 16.2 times the company’s forward earnings forecast. That’s a low multiple for such a market leader.
INTACT FINANCIAL CORP. (Toronto symbol IFC) is Canada’s largest property and casualty insurance provider.
In September 2017, Intact acquired OneBeacon Insurance Group for $1.7 billion U.S. The Minnesota-based insurance holding company focuses on property-casualty coverage. Through its businesses, the firm provides a range of specialty insurance products.
In June 2021, Intact acquired casualty insurer RSA Insurance in partnership with Tryg A/S, one of the leading non-life insurers in Scandinavia. RSA offers a range of general and specialty insurance products. Intact kept RSA’s Canadian, U.K. and international operations, while Tryg got RSA’s Swedish and Norwegian businesses. Intact paid $5.1 billion for its portion of the $12.3 billion purchase price.
Expanding by acquisition adds risk, but specialty insurance policies generally carry higher premiums.
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Intact’s Growth plan adds a lot of investor appeal
Intact now plans to fuel its long-term expansion with a new 3-part growth plan:
- Expand its leadership position in Canada. It plans to do that through BrokerLink, the company’s coast-to-coast distribution platform, while also increasing its digital online sales (up 42% to $725 million in 2025).
- Strengthen its position in the U.K. and Ireland through the introduction of new commercial-line products.
- Become a global leader in the Specialty Lines business. To do that, it has increased its capacity to be a lead underwriter. For example, it launched a U.K. product for builders to drive new premiums in this area.
In the quarter ended March 31, 2026, the insurer’s premiums revenue rose 4.5%, to $5.60 billion from $5.36 billion a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 8.0%, to $4.33 from $4.01.
The company’s combined ratio in the quarter was 91.3%, unchanged from a year earlier. The combined ratio tells investors how profitable an insurance company’s underwriting operations are. The lower the ratio, the better. Anything over 100% means that its underwriting business is unprofitable.
In 2025, Intact repurchased $198 million of its stock. It aims to buy back up to 3% of its common shares by February 16, 2027.
Intact raised your quarterly dividend by 10.5% with the March 2026 payment, to $1.47 a share from $1.33. The new annual rate of $5.88 yields a solid 2.0%. The company has raised the annual dividend rate each year since its initial public offering in December 2004.
The stock now trades at an attractive 16.2 times the $18.16 a share (excluding unusual items) that Intact will probably earn in 2026.
Recommendation in Dividend Advisor: Intact Financial Corp. is a buy.
