UPDATE: Miller Tabak Downgrades ACE Limited to Hold, Reiterates $77.46 PT

In a report published Wednesday, Miller Tabak + Co. downgraded its rating on ACE Limited ACE from Buy to Hold, but reiterated its $77.46 price target. Miller Tabak noted, “Ace Limited is already trading slightly above our current price target. At this point in time, with almost zero on the ground insured damage assessments available for Hurricane Sandy, we believe ACE may have anywhere from $150MM-$1,275MM (roughly $.35-$3.00 per share) in storm related claims to pay, based on our very rough estimate that insured claims losses will be in the range of $15B-$85B. With the history of large storm losses indicating that the consultants' estimates tend to go higher for each of the first 6-10 weeks after the end of a storm, we believe prudent investors should wait before buying new positions in ACE's stock. Consequently, we are cutting our rating to ‘Hold' from the previous ‘Buy' until there is much greater clarity as to the costs of Hurricane Sandy.” ACE Limited closed on Tuesday at $79.35.