: Travelers stock down premarket after insurer offers Q4 guidance that lags consensus after massive winter storm

Travelers Cos. Inc. stock TRV fell 1.8% in premarket trade Tuesday, after the insurer offered fourth-quarter profit guidance that lagged consensus, as it books losses from the winter storm in December that swept across much of the U.S. and Canada. Travelers said it now expects fourth-quarter net profit of $819 million, or $3.44 a share. It expects adjusted EPS of $3.40, below the $4.04 FactSet consensus. The number will include an estimated $459 million in pretax catastrophe losses. “While the footprint of the storm was substantial, impacting 37 U.S. states, the District of Columbia and Canada, our loss experience is consistent with our modeled estimates,” Chief Executive Alan Schnitzer said in a statement. The company is expecting its underlying underwriting gain to come to $723 million pretax, or $571 million after-tax, net investment income of $625 million pretax, or $531 million after-tax, and net favorable prior year reserve development of $185 million pretax, or $145 million after-tax. The stock has gained 19% in the last 12 months, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA has fallen 4%.

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