Great call by ajit,

" Progressive is the country’s best-run auto insurer. It’s up over 60% this year to $254 and trades at a premium to most of the group, at nearly 20 times 2024 earnings and six times book value.

Industry leader Chubb, best known for its high-end Masterpiece homeowners insurance, has had consistently strong underwriting results and picked up the endorsement of Berkshire CEO Warren Buffett when Berkshire accumulated a 6.7% stake in the company in late 2023 and early 2024.

Even after a 30% gain this year, Chubb is reasonably priced at 12 times next year’s projected earnings and twice book value. Some investors are hoping that Berkshire makes a bid for the entire company.

Berkshire has Florida exposure through its ownership of Geico, the No. 3 auto insurer; a large reinsurance business; and primary insurance. Berkshire avoided taking on sizable Florida hurricane exposure this year, as it did in 2023.

Seifert is bullish on the shares, which trade for about 22 times her 2024 profit estimate and 1.6 times the most recent book value. “We see secular strength in insurance, aided by a restructuring and improved claim trends at Geico, coupled with a ‘flight to quality’ as Berkshire builds cash,” she wrote earlier in October.

Berkshire insurance chief Ajit Jain said at the company’s annual meeting in May that Florida is a tough state for the industry. He cited “both the frequency and the severity” of storms and the “lawyers and corruption,” an apparent reference to inflated or bogus claims submitted by contractors."