Our primary rate increases continue to flow through our book, as evident by our strong direct premiums written growth of 19.4% in the quarter.
We continue to selectively write new business, are quickly approaching $1.5 billion in premiums in force, and are optimistic about our prospects in the future.
EPS for the quarter was a loss of $0.10 on a GAAP basis and a loss of $1.43 on a non-GAAP adjusted earnings per share basis.
Year-to-date, GAAP earnings per share was $1.14 and negative $0.08 on a non-GAAP adjusted earnings per share basis.
Despite elevated activity year-to-date, we produced an annualized year-to-date return on average equity of 10% with a book value per share that remained relatively flat since the end of 2019 at $15.15.
As to underwriting, direct premiums written were up 19.4% for the quarter, led by strong direct premium growth of 18.8% in states outside of Florida and 19.6% in Florida.
On the expense side, the combined ratio increased 36.9 points for the quarter to 134.7%.
Turning to services, total services revenue increased 14.9% to $17.1 million for the quarter, driven by commission revenue earned on CD premiums and an increase in policy fees.
On our investment portfolio, net investment income decreased 40.1% to $4.6 million for the quarter, primarily due to lower yields on cash and fixed income investments during 2020 when compared to 2019.
Realized gains for the quarter were $53.8 million and resulted from taking advantage of increased market prices on our available-for-sale debt investment portfolio.
Cash and cash equivalents increased 122.5% to $405.1 million when compared to the end of 2019 as a result of the actions taken to realize investment gains leading to higher investment cash flows.
In regards to capital deployment, during the third quarter, the company repurchased approximately 534,000 shares at an aggregate cost of $9.9 million.
Year-to-date, the company repurchased 1.4 million shares at an aggregate cost of $26.5 million.
On July 6, 2020, the Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.16 per share of common stock, which was paid on August 7, 2020, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on July 31, 2020.
We now expect a GAAP earnings per share range of $1.80 to $2.10 and a non-GAAP adjusted earnings per share range of $0.55 to $0.85, assuming no extraordinary weather events in the fourth quarter of 2020 and no realized or unrealized gains for the fourth quarter.
This would yield a return on average equity derived from GAAP measures of between 11.1% and 14.1% for the full year.
We did see over 2,000 new Irma claims reported during the third quarter and we elected to book the un-gross ultimate at $1.55 billion.
As of 9-30, Hurricane Michael had a little over 100 claims open, as we start to approach the end on this storm.
We did elect to book the Michael gross ultimate at $386 million.
Each of these events was booked at 9-30, expecting a full retention loss under its respective reinsurance program.
For Hurricane Isaias, that was $15 million pre-tax under our other states program, and for Hurricane Sally, that was $43 million pre-tax under our all states program.
Together, these two events resulted in a total net impact of approximately $58 million pre-tax, approximately $44 million after-tax.

Summary:
EPS for the quarter was a loss of $0.10 on a GAAP basis and a loss of $1.43 on a non-GAAP adjusted earnings per share basis.
We now expect a GAAP earnings per share range of $1.80 to $2.10 and a non-GAAP adjusted earnings per share range of $0.55 to $0.85, assuming no extraordinary weather events in the fourth quarter of 2020 and no realized or unrealized gains for the fourth quarter.