Loews Corporation (NYSE:L) reported its results for the fourth quarter. Net income for the property and casualty insurance company fell to $268 million (67 cents per share) vs. $466 million ($1.12 per share) a year earlier. This is a decline of 42.5% from the year earlier quarter. Revenue fell 6.4% to $3.48 billion from the year earlier quarter. Loews Corporation fell short of the mean analyst estimate of 84 cents per share.

Competitors to Watch: CNA Financial Corporation (NYSE:CNA), The Chubb Corporation (NYSE:CB), The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV), W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB), Markel Corporation (NYSE:MKL), American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG), American Intl. Group, Inc. (NYSE:AIG), Old Republic Intl. Corp. (NYSE:ORI), Cincinnati Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:CINF), and RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI).

Lazard Ltd. (NYSE:LAZ) also came in short of analyst estimates. Reported a loss of $5 million (4 cents per diluted share) in the quarter. The asset management company had net income of $100 million or 77 cents per share in the year earlier quarter. Lazard Ltd. reported adjusted net income of one cent per share. By that measure, the company fell short of mean estimate of 37 cents per share.

“The financial markets were difficult in 2011, and Lazard had a challenging fourth quarter, yet our franchise is better positioned today than ever before, with significant operating leverage in both our businesses, as macroeconomic conditions improve,” said Kenneth M. Jacobs, Chairman and Chief Executive of Lazard. “We enter 2012 with a broad and deep platform, the best people, and an unrivaled network of relationships with corporations, governments and investing institutions around the world.”

Competitors to Watch: Lazard Ltd (NYSE:LBJ), Evercore Partners Inc. (NYSE:EVR), Greenhill & Co., Inc. (NYSE:GHL), Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS), Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE:DB), Rodman & Renshaw Capital Group Inc. (NASDAQ:RODM), KBW, Inc. (NYSE:KBW), Cowen Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:COWN), Jefferies Group, Inc. (NYSE:JEF), and UBS AG (NYSE:UBS).

To contact the reporter on this story: Derek Hoffman at staff.writers@wallstcheatsheet.com

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Damien Hoffman at editors@wallstcheatsheet.com

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