Here’s our Pick of the Month

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INTACT FINANCIAL $92.59 (Toronto symbol IFC; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (416-341-1464; www.intactfc.com; Shares outstanding: 131.0 million; Market cap: $12.1 billion; Dividend yield: 2.8%) 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. In the three months ended March 31, 2017, the insurer’s revenue rose 3.7%, to $1.74 billion from $1.68 billion a year earlier. Earnings per share in the quarter fell 2.7%, to $1.08 from $1.11. The decline was mainly because of an increase in the number of weather-related claims at Intact’s auto insurance business. In the latest quarter, the insurer reported a 98.2% combined ratio (the claims paid out divided by the premiums taken in—the lower, the better). That’s above the 92.5% it reported a year earlier. Intact has now agreed to buy OneBeacon Insurance Group (symbol OB on New York) for $1.7 billion U.S. OneBeacon is a Minnesota-based insurance holding company; its…