Just four out of 15 life insurers received a "buy" rating in a Sterne Agee industry report, released today.
The report, authored by Sterne Agree Analyst John Nadel, gives "buy" ratings to Aflac, Hartford Financial Services Group, MetLife and Prudential Financial.
Citing improving macroeconomic factors, among them today's better-than-expected jobs report, as well as gains in S&P futures and 10-year Treasury yields, the report states that investors "should focus on this subgroup of stocks [Aflac, Hartford, MetLife and Prudential], particularly given the clear leverage to the improving macros (save for [Aflac])."
Of the remaining insurers, the Sterne Agree report gives eight "neutral" ratings. The companies include American International Group, Assurant Inc., Ameriprise Financial Inc., Lincoln National Corp., Principal Financial Group, Protective Life Corp., Reinsurance Group of America, Torchmark Corp., and Unum Group.
An additional two companies are rated "underperform:" StanCorp Financial Group and Symetra Financial Corp.
