Yahoo Finance Everest Re (RE) Q4 Earnings Beat Estimates, Improve Y/Y
Everest Re Group, Ltd. RE delivered fourth-quarter 2019 operating net income per share of $3.20, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 35%. The bottom line came in against the year-ago loss of $5.89 per share.
Both its reinsurance and insurance businesses witnessed growth in the reported quarter.
Operational Update
Everest Re’s total operating revenues of $2.1 billion increased 8.3% year over year. Also, the top line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.4%.
Gross written premiums improved 7% year over year to $2.4 billion. The company’s worldwide reinsurance premiums increased 4% year over year. Direct insurance premiums surged 30% to $758.7 million.
Net investment income came in at $146.1 million in the quarter under review, up 4.2% year over year.
Total claims and expenses declined 20.1% to $1.9 billion, mainly on the back of lower incurred losses and loss adjustment expenses, and interest, fees and bond issue cost amortization expense.
Combined ratio contracted 3260 basis points to 101.5%.
Everest Re Group, Ltd. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Everest Re Group, Ltd. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Everest Re Group, Ltd. Quote
Financial Update
Everest Re exited the quarter with total investments and cash worth $20.7 billion, up 12.6% from the 2018-end level. Shareholder equity at the end of the reported quarter increased 16.2% from the figure at 2018 end to $9.1 billion.
Annualized net income return on equity was 12% in 2019.
Everest Re’s cash flow from operations was $1.9 billion in 2019, up from the recorded 2018-level of $610.1 million.
The company bought back shares worth $24.6 million in 2019. The company still has 1.3 million shares remaining under its authorization.
Full-Year Update
For the full year, gross written premiums were $9.1 billion, up 8% year over year. For 2019, Everest Re delivered operating income of $21.34 per share, skyrocketing 358.9% year over year.
Zacks Rank
Everest Re currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Performance of Other Insurers
Among other players from the insurance industry, having reported fourth-quarter earnings so far, the bottom-line results of Brown & Brown, Inc. BRO and RLI Corp. RLI beat estimates while that of Principal Financial PFG matched the mark.
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