Midwest Mutual Insurance Companies

Harleysville Group Inc. (HGIC) Given "Hold" Rating by Wunderlich Analysts

Equities research analysts at Wunderlich reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Harleysville Group Inc. (NASDAQ: HGIC) in a research note to investors on Wednesday. The analysts currently have a $34.00 price target on the stock.

Separately, analysts at RBC Capital (NYSE: RY) cut their price target on shares of Harleysville Group Inc. from $37.00 to $35.00 in a research note to investors on Thursday, April 28th. They now have a "sector perform" rating on the stock. Also, analysts at Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of Harleysville Group Inc.from a "neutral" rating to "underperform" rating in a research note to investors on Monday, April 11th.

Shares of Harleysville Group Inc. opened Thursday 31.65. Harleysville Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $ 29.50 and a week high $ 37.81 52. The stock of 50 days moving average is $ 31.12 and its 200-day moving average is $ 33.26. The company has a market capitalization of $ 857.5 million and a price-earnings ratio of 11.33.

Harleysville Group Inc. announced last quarterly earnings Tuesday, April 26. The company said $ 0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the previous quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters consensus estimate of $0.28 EPS by $0.01. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.28 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.80% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Harleysville Group Inc. will post $0.75 EPS next quarter.

Harleysville Group Inc. (Harleysville Group) is an insurance holding company that, through its subsidiaries, engages in the property and casualty insurance business on a regional basis. As of December 31, 2009, Harleysville Mutual Insurance Company (the Mutual Company) owned approximately 53% of the Company’s outstanding shares. The Company’s insurance coverages are marketed primarily in the eastern and midwestern United States through approximately 1,300 insurance agencies. Regional offices are maintained in Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Virginia. Harleysville Group has three segments: the personal lines of insurance, the commercial lines of insurance and the investment function.

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No. 25667. - ZOO PROPERTIES LLP v. MIDWEST FAMILY MUTUAL INSURANCE ...

[¶ 1.] Zoo Properties, LLP and Aberdeen Zoo, Inc. (Zoo Properties) filed a claim under its business owner's insurance policy to cover the expenses to fix a sagging ceiling resulting from cracked joists. A provision in the policy covered damage due to “risks of direct physical loss involving collapse of a building.” The policy provider, Midwest Family Mutual Insurance Co. (Midwest Family Mutual), denied coverage claiming that the policy language only covered total collapse of the building. The parties filed cross motions for summary judgment. The circuit court determined that the policy did not provide coverage.Accordingly, the circuit court granted summary judgment for Midwest Family Mutual. Properties Zoo calls, arguing that the policy provides coverage. We reverse and remand for further proceedings.

Facts

[¶ 2.] In March 2009, Properties zoo became aware that the ceiling joists between the first and second floors of his building were cracked. Zoo Properties has submitted a claim to the Midwest Family Mutual under the policy of the owner of the company to pay the repair costs. Both sides have hired engineers to determine the extent of the damage. The engineers found that the joists were cracked but that the second floor had not collapsed to the ground. One engineer, however, stated that collapse was inevitable and that the building would be unsafe without repair.

[¶ 3.] Midwest Family Mutual denied Zoo Properties' claim on the basis that the policy was unambiguous and only covered total collapse of the building. The policy provided coverage for “collapse” as follows:

d. Collapse

We will pay for loss or damage caused by or resulting from risks of direct physical loss involving collapse of a building or any part of a building caused only by one or more of the following:

․

(4) Weight of people or personal property;

(5) Weight of rain that collects on a roof;

․

Collapse does not include settling, cracking, shrinkage, bulging or expansion.

(Emphasis added.) The term “collapse” was not otherwise defined.

[¶ 4.] The circuit court agreed with Midwest Family Mutual and determined that the policy only covered total collapse of the building, not cracking joists. On appeal, Zoo Properties argues that the circuit court's interpretation of the policy is incorrect. Zoo Properties claims that the provision is ambiguous and should be construed to cover the cracking joists because they would have eventually caused the ceiling to collapse.

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