Chubb Limited (NYSE:CB) Short Interest Up 21.9% in August

Chubb Limited (NYSE:CB) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,560,000 shares, a growth of 21.9% from the August 15th total of 4,560,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,450,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.8 days. Approximately 1.4% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CB shares. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Chubb in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $349.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Chubb from $257.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on Chubb from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Chubb from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Chubb from $260.00 to $259.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Chubb presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $274.70.

Chubb Stock Down 0.3 %

CB stock traded down $0.93 on Tuesday, reaching $290.39. 368,614 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,602,488. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $273.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $262.30. Chubb has a one year low of $204.15 and a one year high of $294.18. The company has a market cap of $117.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 0.66.

Chubb (NYSE:CB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $5.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.04 by $0.34. Chubb had a return on equity of 15.77% and a net margin of 18.14%. The business had revenue of $13.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.92 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Chubb will post 21.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Chubb Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 4th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Chubb’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.16%.

Insider Activity

In other Chubb news, CEO Evan G. Greenberg sold 30,537 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $287.25, for a total value of $8,771,753.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 583,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $167,748,829.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Evan G. Greenberg sold 30,318 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.60, for a total transaction of $8,780,092.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 553,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $160,341,094.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Evan G. Greenberg sold 30,537 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.25, for a total transaction of $8,771,753.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 583,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $167,748,829.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 94,836 shares of company stock valued at $27,055,900. 0.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Chubb

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CB. Bard Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Chubb by 3.7% during the first quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $293,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Chubb by 0.5% in the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 7,516 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,917,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Chubb by 1.9% in the second quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 2,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $543,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Equitable Trust Co. grew its position in shares of Chubb by 1.4% during the first quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 2,986 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $774,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quotient Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Chubb by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. 83.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Chubb Company Profile

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.