Mixed Reactions National Bank Financial’s Jaeme Gloyn raised his Intact Financial Corp. target to $230, above the $206.50 average, from $225, keeping an “outperform” rating, while Raymond James’ Stephen Boland cut his target to $206 from $217 with a “strong buy” rating.
“We believe the sector remains well-positioned for the year given persistent hard market conditions and rising interest rates that support improved investment income,” he said. “We maintain our view that pricing trends will continue to outpace loss cost trends overall, even for Personal Auto lines as driving behaviour has yet to complete its path to normalization and auto repair / parts price increases in Canada still lag U.S. trends.
“As it relates to IFC, we believe the next leg of share price appreciation is contingent on proof of execution. Q1-22 results reaffirmed our view execution will unfold favourably in particular on two areas of recent investor focus: i) the integration of the RSA acquisition (IFC generated operating EPS accretion of 12 per cent in the 10 months since closing), and ii) strong Personal Auto results (the segment delivered in-line results in Q1 with favourable reserve development, suggesting inflation risks remain muted). In addition, we see more M&A and buyback upside near term.”