Share Buyback Plan Approved by Chubb (NYSE:CB) Board of Directors

Chubb (NYSE:CB) announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 15th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Chubb from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Chubb from $316.00 to $314.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Chubb from $307.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Chubb from $303.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Chubb from $268.00 to $278.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $307.86.

Chubb Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CB opened at $294.19 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $288.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $280.69. Chubb has a 12-month low of $251.42 and a 12-month high of $306.91. The firm has a market cap of $117.89 billion, a PE ratio of 12.95, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Chubb (NYSE:CB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.40. Chubb had a net margin of 16.63% and a return on equity of 13.75%. The firm had revenue of $12.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.22 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Chubb will post 21.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Chubb Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.97 per share. This represents a $3.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This is a positive change from Chubb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Chubb’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Joseph F. Wayland sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.96, for a total transaction of $2,869,600.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 77,703 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,297,652.88. This trade represents a 11.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Timothy Alan Boroughs sold 14,748 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.12, for a total transaction of $4,367,177.76. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,194 shares in the company, valued at $8,644,927.28. This represents a 33.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 63,470 shares of company stock worth $18,562,730 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

About Chubb

Chubb Limited provides insurance and reinsurance products worldwide. The company's North America Commercial P&C Insurance segment offers commercial property, casualty, workers' compensation, package policies, risk management, financial lines, marine, construction, environmental, medical risk, cyber risk, surety, and casualty; and group accident and health insurance to large, middle market, and small commercial businesses.