On Dec 11, 2015, we issued an updated research report on Loews Corporation L.
Loews remains on track to strengthen its hotel business by taking the property count to 30 and tripling its net income by 2015. Loews Hotels currently operates a chain of 23 hotels (22 in the United States and one in Canada).With capital at its disposal to acquire and develop properties, the company eyes similar opportunities in Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., New York City, Dallas, Toronto and Seattle.
CNA Financial CNA has retained its underwriting results’ momentum on lower catastrophe losses and improved non-cat accident year results. CNA Financial’s results will be impacted by moderate rate increases and a low interest rate environment. But the company will stay focused on enhancing its underwriting capabilities in its commercial segment and managing its long-term care book of business.
Also Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LP BWP, a subsidiary of Loews, is poised to capitalize on higher demand from Louisiana's industrial corridor that is acting as a catalyst to its Gulf South natural gas pipeline.
Loews also engages in share buybacks to enhance shareholder value.
However, Diamond Offshore’s DO results have been suffering from lower rig utilization. The industry remains affected by lower oil prices, a reduction in exploration and production budget, and a wave of new rig deliveries. Also, oversupply of floaters due to newbuild rig deliveries and established rigs coming off contract have also led to lower contracted dayrates, shorter-term contracts and idling of rigs.
With respect to results, third-quarter earnings missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate. With respect to the surprise trend, the Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) multiline insurer delivered negative surprises in three of the last four quarters, with an average of negative 11.8%. However, the bottom line improved year over year on higher earnings at Diamond Offshore Drilling and Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, LP.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2015 and 2016 are currently pegged at $2.63 and $2.80, respectively. These translate into year-over-year improvement of 2.14% for 2015 and 6.67% for 2016.
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