Here’s our Pick of the Month – November 2011

Article Excerpt

INTACT FINANCIAL CORP. $57.06 (Toronto symbol IFC; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (416-341-1464; www.intactfc.com; Shares outstanding: 109.4 million; Market cap: $6.2 billion; Dividend yield: 2.6%) is Canada’s largest provider of property and casualty insurance, based on premiums. Its brands include Intact Insurance, Canada BrokerLink, belairdirect and Grey Power. Intact has two product lines: its personal products, which contribute 70% of its premiums, include automobile and property insurance that Intact sells to individuals. Commercial products provide 30%, and include auto, property, liability, surety and specialty coverage that Intact mainly sells to small- and medium-sized businesses. In the three months ended June 30, 2011, Intact’s sales rose 2.7%, to $1.35 billion from $1.32 billion. Earnings per share fell 8.2%, to $1.12 from $1.22 a year earlier. However, the decline was mainly the result of catastrophic claims related to the Slave Lake, Alberta, wildfires and worse-than-usual spring storms. Those losses were partly offset by strong results from the company’s auto insurance business. In September 2011, Intact completed the…