Old Republic International heads into earnings: what to expect from ORI

what happened

Insurance group Old Republic International (ORI) will publish its quarterly results this Thursday before the market opens, according to stockstory.org. Last quarter the company posted revenue of $2.33 billion, up 5.2% year on year, but that fell short of analyst forecasts. It also missed estimates for net premiums earned and book value per share, and has missed Wall Street revenue expectations several times over the past two years.

For this quarter the market expects revenue to rise 7.5% year on year, close to the 8.2% gain in the same period last year. Analysts have broadly kept their estimates unchanged over the past 30 days. Among peers, RLI reported revenue growth of 5.4%, beating expectations by 0.6%, while Travelers posted flat revenue that topped estimates by 0.7%. RLI shares rose 2.5% after its results, and Travelers shares were unchanged.

why it matters

The ORI report is a useful gauge of the property and casualty insurance sector, where share prices rose 2.3% on average over the last month, while ORI gained 1.2%. Analysts' average price target is $43.50 against a current share price of $39.68. Investors will focus on whether the company can return revenue to steady growth and close the gap with premium expectations.

tags

instruments