HCI Group’s (HCI) Earnings Are Climbing Faster Than They Look

On August 6, HCI Group (NYSE: HCI ) reported a second quarter that kept the momentum from earlier in the year rolling. Pre-tax income climbed to $111 million from $94 million a year earlier, and diluted earnings per share rose to $5.60 from $5.18. The Tampa-based insurer is proving that last year's strong run was not a one-off, even as some of the numbers underneath the headline tell a more complicated story.

Premiums Growing, Reinsurance Costs Falling

Gross premiums earned rose 6% to $321 million in the quarter, and the company said the increase came from writing more policies rather than raising the average premium per policy. That pattern held for the first half too, with premiums earned up 7% to $647 million. At the same time, the cost of laying off risk to reinsurers actually fell in the quarter, to $102 million from $103 million a year earlier, thanks to new catastrophe reinsurance programs that took effect June 1. Growing the business while paying less to protect it is the kind of combination that shows up directly in the bottom line, and it did: net income after noncontrolling interests reached $74 million in the quarter, up from $66 million.

HCI Group also moved fast on its own stock. The company launched an $80 million repurchase program on March 3, with authorization to run through February 27, 2027, and had already used the entire amount by July 17, buying back 504,330 shares. Book value per share jumped to $86.60 at the end of June from $58.55 a year earlier, and shares outstanding fell to about 12.47 million from nearly 13 million. Debt costs eased too: interest expense for the first half dropped to $2.0 million from $7.1 million, while the Exzeo insurance technology platform kept adding new carrier customers, pushing other revenue up to $8 million for the six months from $3 million.

Not every line moved in HCI Group's favor. The gross loss and loss adjustment expense ratio ticked up to 22.2% in the quarter from 21.3% a year earlier, and losses and loss adjustment expenses grew faster than premiums, reaching $71 million versus $64 million. G&A personnel expenses rose to $24 million from $20 million, which the company attributed to additional headcount, annual merit increases and stock-based compensation. Those are the kind of costs that tend to stick around even if premium growth cools.

A less obvious wrinkle sits in how that profit gets divided up. Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests jumped to $20.7 million for the first half from $8.7 million a year earlier, growing far faster than net income itself. That shift was large enough that basic earnings per share for the six months actually fell, to $11.39 from $12.00, even though net income after noncontrolling interests rose. Cash on the balance sheet also thinned out, dropping to $872 million at the end of June from $1.21 billion at the start of the year, as the company shifted money into investments and stock buybacks. And with operations concentrated across 13 states, HCI Group's results still hinge heavily on how hurricane season plays out in the markets it serves.