Dividends on (GTY) (RE) (VLY) (WSBC) (DGAS) Declared

Getty Realty Corp. (NYSE:GTY), Everest Reinsurance Group Ltd (NYSE:RE), Valley National Bancorp (NYSE:VLY), Wesbanco Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) and Delta Natural Gas Co Inc. (NASDAQ:DGAS) declare dividends.

The Board of Directors of Getty Realty Corp. (GTY) declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.48 per share payable 7/14/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 6/30/11.

The Board of Directors of Everest Reinsurance Group Ltd (RE) declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.48 per share payable 6/15/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 6/1/11.

The Board of Directors of Valley National Bancorp (VLY) declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.1725 per share payable 7/1/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 6/15/11.

The Board of Directors of Wesbanco Inc. (WSBC) declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.15 per share payable 7/1/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 6/10/11.

The Board of Directors of Delta Natural Gas Co Inc. (DGAS) declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.34 per share payable 6/15/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 6/1/11.

Berkshire (BRK-A), (AIG), (CB), (XL),(RE), (PRU) Could Get Slammed from Japan Quake

The insurance industry has been especially hit hard and expected to have the most exposure overall to the 8.9 quake in Japan, which is the strongest in over a century.

Companies like Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK-A), Prudential (NYSE:PRU), American International Group (NYSE:AIG), Chubb Group (NYSE:CB), XL Group plc (NYSE:XL) and Everest Re Group Ltd. (NYSE:RE) are among those that could be negatively impacted over time, as far as those trading in the United States.

Claims from the disaster are expected to reach into the tens of billions.

Other secondary effects in physical Japan are for companies like Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE:TM), Sony Corporation (NYSE:SNE) and Honda Motor (NYSE:HMC), which have had to close plants.

Reinsurers like RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) and Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) are still recovering from the New Zealand earthquake in February.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL), Hanover (NYSE:THG), Travelers (NYSE:TRV), Arch Capital (Nasdaq:ACGL), Everest Re (NYSE:RE), ACE (NYSE:ACE), PartnerRe (NYSE:PRE)

The property-casualty insurance sector is expected to be under strong pressure in the fourth quarter of 2010, and insurers Allstate (NYSE:ALL), Hanover (NYSE:THG), Travelers (NYSE:TRV), Arch Capital (Nasdaq:ACGL), Everest Re (NYSE:RE), ACE (NYSE:ACE) and PartnerRe (NYSE:PRE) all had their EPS estimates lowered by Barclays.

Barclays said, "The fourth quarter 2010 earnings season is expected to be challenging for the property-casualty insurance sector. This is because P&C insurers are likely to suffer the first quarterly decline in linked-quarter book value since the 2008 financial crisis due to mark-to-market investment losses, and the outlook for 2011 is expected to be uninspiring. Also, 4Q10 EPS estimates appear too high in some cases due the risk of elevated catastrophe losses. In 2010, the Barclays Capital P&C Insurance Index modestly outperformed both the S&P 500 and S&P Financials. Currently, we recommend investors take profits in P&C insurance stocks (especially the insurance brokers) due to our outlook for challenged near-term results for P&C and concerns about a lack of pricing power."

"We are reducing our 4Q10 EPS estimates for Allstate, Hanover Insurance Group, Travelers due to our expectations of elevated U.S. storm losses, and we are lowering our 4Q EPS outlook for Arch Capital & Everest Re to reflect our concern that New Zealand earthquake loss estimates could rise beyond our existing catastrophe load."

"Within the P&C insurance sector, we prefer the shares of primary commercial P&C insurers and select diversified reinsurers over the personal lines P&C insurers and insurance brokers. Broadly, we favor the high-quality names with strong balance sheets, excess capital, and attractive valuations: TRV, ACE Ltd, ACGL, and PartnerRe ."