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RenaissanceRe's (RNR) Q3 Earnings Miss Estimates, Tumble Y/Y

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RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (RNR - Free Report) delivered third-quarter 2019 operating earnings per share of 29 cents per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 54% due to catastrophe loss, high expenses and underwriting loss. Moreover, the bottom line declined 44.2% year over year.

Quarterly Operational Update

RenaissanceRe’s third-quarter operating revenues of $1 billion soared nearly 67% year over year on the back of improved net premiums earned plus net realized and unrealized gains on investment.

Gross premiums written surged 37.6% year over year to $861.1 million owing to higher premiums at the Property as well as the Casualty and Specialty segments.

Net investment income of $113.8 million rose 41.1% year over year.

RenaissanceRe’s total expenses were $939.5 million, having escalated 62.1% year over year, primarily due to higher Net claims and claim expenses incurred, acquisition expenses, operational expenses and corporate expenses.

Underwriting loss of $3.4 million was narrower than the year-earlier quarterly loss of $29 million. The company’s underwriting results were negatively impacted by third-quarter catastrophe events.

Combined ratio was 100.4% in the third quarter compared with the year-ago quarter’s 105.5%.

RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. Quote

Quarterly Segment Update

Property Segment


Gross premiums written were $314.4 million, up 4.3% year over year in the third quarter.

Underwriting loss of $7.7 million was reported in the third quarter, narrower than the year-ago  loss of $43.9 million. Combined ratio of 101.7% contracted 1330 basis points (bps) year over year.

Casualty and Specialty Segment

Gross premiums written were $546.7 million, up 68.6% from the prior-year quarter. This upside is driven by the buyouts in connection with TMR Group Entities and growth in the current and new business opportunities within a few classes of business.

The segment’s underwriting income of $4.5 million plunged 69.8% year over year.

Combined ratio of 99% expanded 520 basis points year over year.

Financial Position   

As of Sep 30, 2019, total assets of RenaissanceRe were $25.6 billion, up 37.3% from the level at 2018 end.

The company had total debt of $1.4 billion as of Sep 30, 2019, up nearly 39.6% from the level at 2018 end.

Cash and cash equivalents were $871.2 million, down 21.4% from the figure at 2018 end.

Book value per share of $120.07 rose 15.3% from the number at 2018 end.

Annualized Return on equity for the quarter under review was 2.8%.

Zacks Rank

RenaissanceRe has 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 third-quarter earnings so far, the bottom-line results of The Progressive Corporation (PGR - Free Report) , MGIC Investment Corporation (MTG - Free Report) and RLI Corp. (RLI - Free Report) outpaced the respective Zacks Consensus Estimate.   

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