Allstate Corp., the largest publicly traded U.S. home insurer, is increasing prices for residential coverage after results missed the company’s targets.
“Overall returns have been inadequate” in the homeowners’ segment, the Northbrook, Illinois-based insurer said today in a presentation for its Investor Day.
Chief Executive Officer Thomas Wilson needs to cushion losses from natural disasters, including April tornadoes in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia and Virginia. Catastrophes cost the firm $1.4 billion that month, the insurer said on May 12.
Allstate “significantly reduced” the potential for losses on earthquakes and hurricanes by curtailing the sale of homeowners’ policies in the most vulnerable regions and buying reinsurance, the firm said.
Allstate slipped 1.6 percent this year through yesterday on the New York Stock Exchange, compared with the 0.6 percent gain of the 24-company KBW Insurance Index.
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