UIHC ==> The Margaritaville Winner

[mrmarket]

It is a great company but it may take 6 months to make our money now rather than 6 weeks. I'm wondering how much father down it has to go before it finds a bottom.

Earnings reports usually take out a number of weak hands. Then you get one or two ANAL-yst reports coming out in the next few days. After that, it's a question of value and how's the business doing. Anytime you have a stock with growing earnings and revenue with a PE less than 10, it's kind of hard to lose money on it.

[Lucavia123]

It is a great company but it may take 6 months to make our money now rather than 6 weeks. I'm wondering how much father down it has to go before it finds a bottom.

[mrmarket]

With a 12% drop, anyone thinking about buying up more?

PE is very low.

[seabric1]

With a 12% drop, anyone thinking about buying up more?

[mrmarket]

Yesterday would have been a good day to buy insurance because the sky is falling today--down 10+ percent

Sell on news...it's now a value stock.

[LemonButt]

Today 7/29/14 UIHC received a "BUY" rating and a 97 Score on my Market Trend Signal Program. Should be a buy In right here

Yesterday would have been a good day to buy insurance because the sky is falling today--down 10+ percent

[Phoenix7]

Today 7/29/14 UIHC received a "BUY" rating and a 97 Score on my Market Trend Signal Program. Should be a buy In right here

[mrmarket]

Pretty good earnings...not as robust as what I was looking for but definitely going in the right direction. Still shapes up for a great 2014 which should help the stock price.


United Insurance Holdings Corp. Reports Financial Results for Its Second Quarter Ended June 30, 2014

Company to Host Quarterly Conference Call at 5:00 P.M. on July 29, 2014

United Insurance Holdings Corp.33 minutes ago











ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
United Insurance Holdings Corp. (UIHC)(UPC Insurance or the Company), a property and casualty insurance holding company, today reported its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2014.

($ in thousands, except per share and ratios)		Three Months Ended												Six Months Ended
	June 30,												June 30,
		2014				2013				Change				2014				2013				Change
Gross premiums written		$	128,920			$	103,303			24.8	%			$	217,921			$	191,049			14.1	%
Gross premiums earned		$	97,223			$	74,900			29.8	%			$	192,234			$	144,776			32.8	%
Ceded premiums earned		$	(33,039	)		$	(28,929	)		14.2	%			$	(64,016	)		$	(56,508	)		13.3	%
Net premiums earned		$	64,184			$	45,971			39.6	%			$	128,218			$	88,268			45.3	%
Total revenues		$	67,704			$	48,652			39.2	%			$	135,211			$	92,822			45.7	%
Earnings before income tax		$	15,410			$	7,246			112.7	%			$	33,106			$	14,330			131.0	%
Net income		$	9,590			$	4,509			112.7	%			$	20,979			$	8,860			136.8	%
Net income per diluted share		$	0.46			$	0.28			64.3	%			$	1.09			$	0.55			98.2	%
Book value per share														$	8.85			$	5.98			48.0	%
Return on average equity, ttm														26.5		%		14.7		%		11.8 pts
Loss ratio, net1		44.8		%		50.0		%		-5.2 pts				44.0		%		49.3		%		-5.3 pts
Expense ratio, net2		36.4		%		39.8		%		-3.4 pts				35.5		%		39.4		%		-3.9 pts
Combined ratio (CR)3		81.2		%		89.8		%		-8.6 pts				79.5		%		88.7		%		-9.2 pts
Effect of current year catastrophe losses on CR		0.4		%		3.9		%		-3.5 pts				0.2		%		4.1		%		-3.9 pts
Effect of prior year (favorable) development on CR		(1.6		%	)	3.9		%		-5.5 pts				(0.9		%	)	4.0		%		-4.9 pts
Underlying combined ratio4		82.4		%		82.0		%		0.4 pts				80.2		%		80.6		%		-0.4 pts

“This was another strong quarter for UPC Insurance as we continued to execute our growth strategy in coastal states from Texas to Maine,” said John Forney, President & Chief Executive Officer of UPC Insurance. “During the quarter, we were licensed in two new states, added several key members to our management team, entered a complementary line of business, and passed the $100 billion threshold in total insured value. Our premium volume during the quarter was the highest in company history by over 20%, and approximately 60% of our new business during the quarter came from outside Florida.”
Quarterly Financial Results
Net income for the quarter was $9.6 million, or $0.46 per diluted share, compared to $4.5 million, or $0.28 per diluted share in the second quarter in 2013. The increase in net income was primarily due to lower ceded reinsurance premium percentage for the quarter compared to the prior period and gross earned premium growth in all states in 2014.
The Company's direct gross written premiums increased by $25.6 million, or 24.8%, primarily due to the organic growth in new and renewal business generated in the states in which the Company currently writes. The quarter-over-quarter growth in gross written premiums by state is shown in the table below:

		Three Months Ended June 30,
Direct Written and Assumed Premium By State		2014				2013				Growth				Growth %
Direct written premium
Florida		$	100,698			$	89,418			$	11,280			12.6	%
South Carolina		8,718				6,825				1,893				27.7
Massachusetts		8,228				3,569				4,659				130.5
Rhode Island		4,959				3,322				1,637				49.3
North Carolina		3,324				339				2,985				880.5
New Jersey		1,046				—				1,046				100.0
Texas		2,486				—				2,486				100.0
Total direct written premium by state		129,459				103,473				25,986				25.1
Assumed premium (1)		(539		)		(170		)		(369		)		217.1
Total gross written premium		$	128,920			$	103,303			$	25,617			24.8	%

1 All assumed premiums are written in Florida due to the policy assumptions from Citizens.

The Company’s gross underlying loss ratio increased to 29.8% during the first half of 2014, which was up 4.6 points from 25.2% in the first half of 2013. The primary drivers of this change were increases in the severity of water-related losses in Florida, as well as water and freeze-related losses in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Water-related losses and other loss causes in states outside of Florida accounted for approximately 2.2 points of the 4.6 point increase in the Company's gross underlying loss ratio. These negative changes in the gross loss ratio were partially offset by a lower ceded reinsurance premium percentage, which allowed the Company's net underlying loss ratio to increase by only percentage 3.5 points.
Reinsurance Costs Decreased as a % of Earned Premium for both the Quarter and Year-to-Date
Excluding the Company's flood business, for which it cedes 100% of the risk of loss, reinsurance costs in the second quarter of 2014 were 30.7% of gross premiums earned compared to 35.5% of gross premiums earned for the second quarter of 2013. Reinsurance costs for the six months ended June 30, 2014 were 30.1% of gross premiums earned compared to 35.9% for the same period last year.
Investment Portfolio Highlights
UPC Insurance's cash and investment holdings totaled $427.1 million at June 30, 2014, compared to $323.8 million at December 31, 2013. UPC Insurance's cash and investment holdings consist primarily of investments in high-quality money market instruments, U.S. Government and agency securities and high-quality corporate debt. Fixed maturities represented approximately 82.3% of total investments at June 30, 2014, and 94.5% at December 31, 2013. The decrease in the fixed maturities holdings is due to a $44.0 million investment in a short duration bond mutual fund during the first half of the year that is classified as an equity investment according to U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

[seabric1]

For what it's worth, we're going into an El Nino phase this summer. Source: I'm a long time surfer.... and this:

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/enso_advisory/ensodisc.html

What this means is that we can expect minimal hurricane activity in the Atlantic this summer due to sheering high pressure winds on the waters south of Bermuda. Not good for surfing, but should be good for UIHC. I might hold this guy until year end.

[mrmarket]

Fairly authoratative positive move upward today with earnings coming in tomorrow...thinking good things.

[mrmarket]

http://miami.cbslocal.com/2014/06/30...me-depression/

First "depression" of the season. Let's hope these are few and far between

just a wet fart

[bigtruck]

http://miami.cbslocal.com/2014/06/30/tropical-disturbance-inching-closer-to-fl-likely-to-become-depression/

First "depression" of the season. Let's hope these are few and far between

[Lucavia123]

UIHC hitting the 10 week moving average. This most likely will be the floor. If anyone has not gotten in this rocket ship this may be your ideal buying opportunity.

[jiesen]

Great pick and excellent writeup, $$MM! I'm in with you at 17.8!

[Louetta]

UIHC's mission is to produce superior risk-adjusted returns for their investors by building a sustainable franchise thta delivers quality homeowners insurance products in select markets. Their vision is to be the premier provider of property insurance in catastrophe exposed areas.

One more thing...their boss is awesome:

Mr. Forney holds a B.A. in Economics from Princeton University and an M.B.A. in finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was the recipient of a Morgenthau Public Policy Fellowship. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. He is a former infantry officer and graduate of the U.S. Army’s Ranger School, the military’s most challenging course for combat leaders.

Impressive