UBS double upgrades Beazley to ‘buy’

UBS upgraded insurer Beazley on Friday to ‘buy’ from ‘sell’ and lifted the price target to 688p from 646p as it said the pullback in the stock has been too severe.

The bank noted that Beazley shares have fallen 16% year-to-date, driven by a higher implied cost of capital surrounding the November equity raise and also consensus earnings per share downgrades given lower premium exit level.

"Viewing with a clean lens, we do believe the capital surplus is higher in absolute terms, reserve buffers remain robust (albeit less so than peers)," UBS said.

"We continue to believe that there are better stocks to own for the hard market, however, EPS growth is strong in the near-medium term, and we believe the P/E can re-rate from its historically low current level.

"There is sufficient upside for us to double upgrade the stock to buy rating, though we maintain our preference for Hiscox and Lancashire in the well-liked London Market peer group."

At 1520 BST, the shares were up 3.1% at 602.90p.