Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited (NYSE:AHL)

Discount to Book Value; pays dividend

TMFDeej and others have already explained the value proposition. What I would add is: AHL management realizes that the stock is undervalued and they are buying it back! (not all management is that smart). Also, cash flow exceeds net income. My fair value is $100. I think recent years have been low on catastrophes, but still, this is cheap.

flyer

TMFDeej pitch

I have been looking at insurance companies after Zeke Ashton's great Value Investor's Congress presentation last week.

One of the companies that he highlighted was Aspen (AHL). The stock is currently trading at around a 20% discount to its book value, despite the fact that it has only reported a loss in one year since it went public in 2003 (the Kartina year). That loss likely will not be repeated given the fact hat the company has reduced its natural catastrophe exposure by about half since then.

Since its IPO, Aspen has grown its book value by an average of 12.7% per year, which is an impressive feat considering the fact that we have been in a weak insurance market since 2006.

I think that Aspen stands a good chance of outperforming the S&P 500 over the next several years given the current market conditions. If insurance premiums begin to improve or if interest rates rise, the stock could really take off.

Deej

This Idea is from the Seeking Alpha article

http://seekingalpha.com/article/229931-3-more-top-hedge-funds-picks-notes-from-value-investing-congress-day-1

Zeke Ashton ~ Centaur Capital Partners

Ashton has seen an impressive 16% CAGR since inception with his hedge fund, Centaur Capital Partners. He had some ideas in the property & casualty insurance space, notably Fairfax Financial (FRFHF.PK) as well as Aspen Insurance (AHL). Fairfax is run by Prem Watsa, a man many have dubbed the 'Warren Buffett of the north' as he's based in Canada.

Aspen Insurance is a name we've seen in David Einhorn's portfolio for a while as well and Ashton believes it could see $40, a book value of 1.15 (it currently trades around $30 per share) as the company continues to buy back stock at a discount. He also sees Liberty Mutual as potential value when it eventually comes public.

value

wonderful business

Aspen Insurance Holdings currently qualifies for my Stable Dividends screen which has outperformed the S&P 500 by 16.6% since January1, 2000. The screen requires a sustainable dividend yield in excess of 2% along with a reasonable p/e ratio. Although the company's earnings appear to be recovering after a poor (but positive) performance in 2008, Aspen Insurance Holdings remains undervalued in relation to its historical norms. Current p/bv: 0.69. Five year median p/bv: 1.02. The stock is also somewhat timely judging by its CAPS rating of 4 and stockscouter rating of 9. Recent changes in analysts' earnings estimates also appear favorable.

good ROE, reasonable price-book, price-earnings.

Good company. Pays a dividend and is growing. PEG less than 1. Collect a dividend and ride the move up.

Value!

increasing sales and profit, low P/E, minimal long term debt

A solid balance sheet and a boring but steady business. Cannot continue to ignore performance. P/E of 5, and trading at 90% of book value.

good number and i hear lots of good sentiment about this company which is always encouraging

Great long term play. P/E, PEG, and dividend are too good to pass up.

good

With dividends and a extremely low p/e I can't pass this one up.

excellent fundamentals + dividend