Here’s our Pick of the Month

Article Excerpt

INTACT FINANCIAL $117.70 (Toronto symbol IFC; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (416-341-1464; www.intactfc.com; Shares outstanding: 139.2 million; Market cap: $16.4 billion; Dividend yield: 2.6%) is Canada’s largest provider of property and casualty coverage, insuring more than five million individuals and businesses. Its major brands are Intact Insurance, Canada BrokerLink and belairdirect. For the quarter ended March 31, 2019, the company’s revenue rose 4.4%, to $2.66 billion from $2.54 billion a year earlier. The gain in part reflects Intact’s September 2017 acquisition of OneBeacon Insurance Group for $1.7 billion U.S. 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 leading members of the marine, sports and entertainment industries. Excluding one-time items, overall earnings per share in the quarter fell 20.6%, to 0.54 from $0.68. The lower earnings are because the company paid out higher claims as a result of severe winter weather in Canada. Even so, it still beat the consensus forecast of…