Dividend Yields for (MMC) (TRV) (ALL) (CB) (AFL)

Indicated dividend yields for Standard & Poor's 500 Index companies Marsh & McLennan Cos Inc (MMC), Travelers Cos Inc (TRV), Allstate Corp (ALL), Chubb Corp (CB) and Aflac Inc (AFL).

These dividend data indicate dividend yields of companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index as of Saturday, April 30. The yield is determined by taking the latest declared dividend, annualized and divided by the price of the stock. Payout ratios are calculated based on latest quarterly dividend paid divided by earnings.

Marsh & McLennan Cos Inc (MMC) has a dividend yield of 2.77 percent on a declared dividend of $0.55. The payout ratio is 60.2 percent.

Travelers Cos Inc (TRV) has a dividend yield of 2.59 percent on a declared dividend of $0.41. The payout ratio is 18.5 percent.

Allstate Corp (ALL) has a dividend yield of 2.48 percent on a declared dividend of $0.21. The payout ratio is 21.5 percent.

Chubb Corp (CB) has a dividend yield of 2.39 percent on a declared dividend of $0.39. The payout ratio is 17.2 percent.

Aflac Inc (AFL) has a dividend yield of 2.14 percent on a declared dividend of $0.30. The payout ratio is 32.2 percent.

Shares of (AA) (EBR) (CB) (MUR) (WPZ) Jump to 52-Week Highs

Shares of Alcoa, Inc. (NYSE:AA), Centrais Electricas Brasileiras S.A. (NYSE:EBR), The Chubb Corporation (NYSE:CB), Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) and Williams Partners L.P. (NYSE:WPZ) were among a number of companies soaring to 52-week highs on Friday, even in the midst of extraordinary uncertainty and wobbly optimism.

Alcoa, Williams and Murphy oil aren't surprising performers, as the commodity sector continues to outperform as demand and prices continue to rise. Alcoa has an input challenge, but the energy companies appear pretty solid at this time.

Alcoa will report a good quarter today, but guidance will determine the market response.

Williams is a natural gas company and Murphy both oil and natural gas.

Centrais Electricas Brasileiras S.A. (NYSE:EBR) is an Brazilian energy company, while Chubb markets property and casualty insurance.

Williams closed Friday at $52.81, falling $0.19, or 0.36 percent. Murphy oil closed at $77.00, gaining $1.93, or 2.57 percent. Chubb closed at $62.12, the same as Thursday's close. Centrais Electricas Brasileiras S.A. closed at $16.24, up $0.04, or 0.25 percent. Alcoa closed at $17.92, down $0.20, or 1.10 percent.

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.

Travelers (NYSE:TRV), ACE (NYSE:ACE), Arch Capital (Nasdaq:ACGL) Better Bets Than Chubb (NYSE:CB) on Valuation

Chubb (NYSE:CB) has a lot going for it, unfortunately for them at this time, peers like Travelers (NYSE:TRV), ACE (NYSE:ACE) and Arch Capital (Nasdaq:ACGL) are trading at or below 1X book value, making them a preferable investment at this time.

Barclays says, "CB has a solid franchise in our view as evidenced by strong 4Q10 underwriting results and aggressive share repurchase activity. However, CB's valuation is above peers, and we prefer other high-quality P&C insurers that trade at or below 1x book value such as Travelers (NYSE:TRV), ACE Ltd (NYSE:ACE) and Arch Capital (Nasdaq:ACGL).

"We are reducing our 2011 EPS estimate for CB to $5.65 from $5.75 (consensus=$5.80) to reflect higher than anticipated catastrophe losses. No change to our 2012 EPS estimate of $5.60 (consensus=$5.73)."

Barclays maintains an 'Equalweight' rating on Chubb Corporation (CB), which closed Friday at $57.97, down $1.36, or 2.29 percent. Barclays has a price target of $59 on Chubb.

Travelers (NYSE:TRV), ACE (NYSE:ACE), Arch Capital (Nasdaq:ACGL) , PartnerRe (NYSE:PRE) Have Best P&C Outlook for 2011

Heading into 2011, Barclays (NYSE:BCS) says they see the outlook for the P&C insurance sector as "lackluster." Based on the management team differentiator, their favorite picks going forward are Travelers (NYSE:TRV), ACE (NYSE:ACE), Arch Capital (Nasdaq:ACGL) and PartnerRe (NYSE:PRE).

Barclays said, "Entering 2011, our outlook is lackluster for the P&C insurance sector. Positive factors include low valuations and strong capital positions. Challenges for the sector include declining pricing due to excess capital and slack demand, anticipated declines in EPS and ROEs, slowing book value growth, and potential increases in interest rates and inflation. Barring a major catastrophe loss, broad tightening in P&C commercial insurance and reinsurance pricing appears unlikely before 2013.

"Our highest conviction long ideas are Travelers, ACE Ltd, Arch Capital Group and PartnerRe Ltd because we believe these companies have superior management teams, can generate top-tier performance, and trade at attractive valuations. On the other hand, we recommend investors use the insurance brokers including MMC, AJG, and BRO as a source of funds because of expensive valuations and headwinds from soft P&C market conditions as well as a slow economic recovery. Separately, our outlook could become more favorable on shares of Bershire H (NYSE:BRK.B), Progressive (NYSE:PGR), and Chubb (NYSE:CB) if their valuations became more attractive.

"P&C insurers' book values could experience negative mark to market losses in 4Q10 (the first time in roughly one year) due to rising interest rates, which we estimate could be 5% of book value on average. P&C insurers with the highest impact to book value could be XL Capital (NYSE:XL) (-9% of BV), TRV (-8%) and Everest Re Group (NYSE:RE) (-7%). Berkshire Hathaway's book value, on the other hand, could benefit by about a 2% mark-to-market investment gain due to its higher exposure to equities.

"In addition, we are lowering our 2011 EPS outlook for Aon Corporation (NYSE:AON) and Arthur J Gallagher (NYSE:AJG) to reflect less margin expansion than previously anticipated. We are also raising our 2011 EPS estimate for PRE and FSR to reflect higher than projected share repurchase activity."

Travelers closed Monday at $55.45, up $0.27, or 0.49 percent. Ace closed at $60.96, down $0.09, or 0.15 percent. Arch Capital was down to $88.26, losing $0.40, or 0.45 percent. PartnerRe closed at $77.78, up $0.05, or 0.06 percent.

Top Ten Calls Recommended by Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS)

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) released a list of their top ten calls in the financial sector, targeting those lagging behind the market in the midst of what they perceive as improving fundamentals.

They see the overall sector rising.

The 10 companies the options strategists at Goldman recommend are these: IntercontinentalExchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE), Allstate Corporation (NYSE:ALL), Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV), Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN), The Chubb Corporation (NYSE:CB), Moody's Corp. (NYSE:MCO), Progressive Corp. (NYSE:PGR), State Street Corp. (NYSE:STT), NYSE Euronext, Inc. (NYSE:NYX) and T. Rowe Price (Nasdaq:TROW).

IntercontinentalExchange, Inc. was trading at $117.87, up $1.49, or 1.28 percent, as of 12:14 PM EST. Allstate was at $30.98, up $ 0.03, or 0.10 percent. Travelers was at $55.42, up $0.08, or 0.14 percent. Franklin Resources was trading at $117.37, up $0.93, or 0.80 percent. Chubb was at $59.53, up $0.04, or 0.07 percent. Moody's was at $27.40, up $0.07, or 0.26 percent. Progressive was up to $20.62, gaining $0.18, or 0.88 percent. State Street moved up to $45.60, rising by $0.40, or 0.88 percent. NYSE Euronext was up to $29.62, gaining $0.27, or 0.92 percent. T.Rowe Price was trading at $63.31, up $0.53, or 0.84 percent.

All 10 companies were positive as of this writing.