Flagstone Shares Plunged: What You Need to Know

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of global reinsurer Flagstone Reinsurance (NYS: FSR) were getting battered today, falling as much as 10% in intraday trading after the company released third-quarter results.

So what: It was a deeply red quarter for Flagstone, as the company announced an $0.85-per-share loss for the quarter, down from a $0.48-per-share profit last year and worse than the $0.38-per-share loss that analysts were expecting. The company took significant hits during the quarter from hurricane Irene, the Danish cloudburst, and the Melbourne floods. The company also saw more losses develop on events it covered earlier in the year -- such as the Japanese earthquake and tsunami.

Now what: For a business like Flagstone, investors need to be prepared for lumpy results as the company goes through peaks and troughs in terms of digesting big catastrophic losses. However, the company obviously thinks things aren't clicking quite right, as it's announced a strategic realignment that, among other things, will seek to reduce its geographic diversification and enhance its capital position. While management obviously thinks this will be a step in the right direction for the company, investors will want to keep a keen eye on whether this move really helps put the company on a better path.

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