Citi analyst James Naklicki says U.S. commercial pricing improved sequentially and that he expect trends to stabilize in 2019. The analyst moved Chubb (CB) to his top pick for 2019 in Insurance - Property & Casualty, which he notes is an "out of consensus view." Chubb is a "very defensive stock, significantly outperforming both the S&P 500 and the P&C sector during financial crisis in 2008," Naklicki tells investors in a research note. He thinks there could be upside to consensus expectations as interest rates rise. Plus, the analyst expects Chubb to generate over $5B in cash in 2019, "with only about half of that being deployed back to shareholders through dividend and share repurchase." For RenaissanceRe (RNR), Naklicki sees a 2% decline in U.S. property catastrophe reinsurance pricing in 2019 serving as a negative catalyst.

Following the release last night of 13F filings detailing the holdings of large investors, including Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A), Morgan Stanley analyst Kai Pan noted that the filing from Warren Buffett's Berkshire revealed increased stakes in Bank of America (BAC), U.S. Bancorp (USB) and Goldman Sachs (GS) along with new stakes in JPMorgan (JPM), PNC Financial (PNC) and Travelers (TRV). The analyst sees these investments, along with the fact that Berkshire's s financial holdings stood at 46% of its overall $203B equity portfolio as of quarter end, as a "clear signal" of the value that Buffett sees in financials, Pan tells investors. He adds that he views Buffett's new stake in Oracle (ORCL) as another "notable" new purchase.

Credit Suisse analyst Michael Zaremski lowered his price target for Progressive to $74 from $79 as he believes some investors are currently unwilling to buy into auto stocks as auto pricing falls. The analyst reiterates an Outperform rating on the shares.

Progressive shares have retreated to "historical lows" with its price-to-earnings valuation multiple below 13 times year-ahead consensus earnings and 85% of the S&P 500 multiple, Deutsche Bank analyst Joshua Shanker tells investors in a research note. While the company is unlikely to have to confront the headwinds of increasingly lower interest rates as it did in the 2005-2015 decade when its earnings growth was flattish, its underwriting margins "may be poised to deteriorate," Shanker contends. As such, he keeps a Hold rating on Progressive.