MetLife (MET - option chain) stock is trading lower today along with most other insurance companies this morning after the cost to insurers related to Friday's earthquake in Japan was estimated to be between $15 to $35 billion. Prudential Financial (PRU) and AIG (AIG) are also down so far in today's trading. Even if these insurance companies are actually on solid footing financially with regard to their expected claims, I expect investors could be frightened for several months to come, which could keep share prices depressed. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on MET.

Continue reading Traders Exit Insurance Stocks to Avoid Earthquake Exposure

Traders Exit Insurance Stocks to Avoid Earthquake Exposure originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 14 Mar 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Generally, I avoid stocks already above $50 -- but there are exceptions. Prudential Financial Inc. (PRU) is one of these, and it's worth a review.

Prudential has weathered the recession and is now set to post impressive earnings growth in 2011 and 2012.

A strong variable annuity business is likely to be complemented by double-digit earnings growth in asset management: The company currently manages about $641 billion in assets. Meanwhile, PRU's insurance unit will recover more slowly, due to sub-par life and disability margins.

Continue reading Is Now a Good Time to Consider Prudential?

Is Now a Good Time to Consider Prudential? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 09 Feb 2011 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Prudential Likely to Acquire Japanese AIG Life Insurers

Prudential Likely to Acquire Japanese AIG Life Insurers originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 29 Sep 2010 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Again this week, consensus forecasts for companies reporting quarterly results call for double-digit earnings growth from many of them, compared to the results from a year ago when shares of many companies were at recessionary lows.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are looking for strong earnings results from Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM), Prudential Financial Inc. (PRU), Time Warner Inc. (TWX), MasterCard Inc. (MA) and Washington Post Co. (WPO), which we'll take a closer look at here, as well as from Devon Energy (DVN), DirecTV (DTV), Loews (L), Marsh & McLennan (MMC), NYSE Euronext (NYX), Williams Companies (WMB) and others.

Continue reading The Week in Preview: Eye on ADM, MasterCard, Prudential, Time Warner, Washington Post

The Week in Preview: Eye on ADM, MasterCard, Prudential, Time Warner, Washington Post originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 02 May 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading U.S. Insurers Addicted to Corporate Bonds

U.S. Insurers Addicted to Corporate Bonds originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 23 Mar 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It looks like American International Group (AIG) has found another $15.5 billion. The insurance company is selling its American Life Insurance Co. division to MetLife (MET) for $6.8 billion in cash and $8.7 billion in equities. Approximately $9 billion from this sale will be used to repay funds provided by the Federal Reserve, totaling $182.3 billion. This follows the announcement of Prudential's $35.5 billion designs on AIG's Asian operations.

Robert Haines, analyst at CreditSights, tells Bloomberg News, "This is a sizeable transaction." He continues, "It demonstrates they're making some tangible progress on their plan to divest assets."

Continue reading MetLife to Spend $15 Billion on AIG Life Division

MetLife to Spend $15 Billion on AIG Life Division originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Prudential to Pick up AIG Asia Unit for $35 Billion

Prudential to Pick up AIG Asia Unit for $35 Billion originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 08:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage on BloggingStocks:

• Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) reported better-than-expected Q4 earnings and declared an annual dividend.
• Allstate Corp. (ALL) swung to better-than-expected Q4 earnings and also swung to a full-year profit.
• Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. (BWLD) shares tumbled after it posted disappointing earnings tied to costs.
• The Cheesecake Factory Inc. (CAKE) posted better-than-expected Q4 earnings but sales were flat.
• Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (CMG) earnings numbers for Q4 resulted in upgrades from two analysts.
• CVS Caremark Corp. (CVS) higher Q4 earnings matched the expectations of analysts, and shares rose.

Continue reading Earnings Highlights: Allstate, Marriott, PepsiCo, 3M, UBS, Viacom, WWE ...

Earnings Highlights: Allstate, Marriott, PepsiCo, 3M, UBS, Viacom, WWE ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 13 Feb 2010 12:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Insurance giants Allstate (ALL) and Prudential Financial (PRU) reported fourth-quarter results after the closing bell on Wednesday.

Allstate said it earned $518 million, or $1.09 cents per share. That exceeded the $1.01 per share expected by analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, and compares with a loss of $1.13 billion, or $2.10 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2008. Revenue for the quarter just past totaled $8.06 billion, which was up 22% from the year-ago period.

Continue reading Allstate Beats Q4 Estimates; Prudential Falls Short

Allstate Beats Q4 Estimates; Prudential Falls Short originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 11 Feb 2010 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Prudential Financial, Inc. (PRU), the Newark N.J.-based life insurance giant, is scheduled to release fourth-quarter financial results after the market closes Wednesday, and then to discuss those results in a conference call tomorrow, Thursday, Feb. 11, at 11:00 AM (ET). An audio webcast of the call will be available at the company's website.

During the three months that ended in December, Prudential saw management changes, sold its stake in a joint venture and declared an annual dividend. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are looking for earnings for that period to come to $1.11 per share. That compares with $1.59 per share in the previous quarter and a loss of $2.04 per share a year ago. Revenue for the fourth quarter is expected to be 6.9% higher than a year ago to $16.2 billion.

Continue reading Prudential Earnings Preview: Strong 2009 Results Expected

Prudential Earnings Preview: Strong 2009 Results Expected originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are looking for life insurance giant MetLife Inc. (MET) to report that its earnings rose 80.0% from a year ago to $0.95 per share for the three months that ended in December. Revenue, however, is expected to total $12.6 billion, which is down 10.1% from a year ago, during a fourth quarter in which it offered guidance and declared a quarterly dividend. The analysts' forecast for the full year calls for earnings of $2.89 per share (-25.7%) on $48.3 billion in revenue (-5.3%). This New York-based insurer's earnings results have been better than expected in three of the past four quarters, beating estimates by as much as 20 cents per share.

MetLife's long-term EPS growth forecast is 10.7%, which is better than that of competitor Prudential Financial Inc. (PRU), and its earnings multiple is 8.8x. The First Call consensus recommendation has been to buy MET for more than 90 days, despite a recent downgrade of the stock. The mean price target is $42.87. Shares have been trading between $32.00 and $40.00 since August and closed the week at $35.32.

Continue reading The Week in Preview: MetLife, BP, MasterCard, Dow Chemical, Toyota Earnings

The Week in Preview: MetLife, BP, MasterCard, Dow Chemical, Toyota Earnings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 31 Jan 2010 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Shares of MetLife Inc. (MET), the largest life insurer in the U.S., rose Monday after the company released preliminary fourth quarter and full-year 2009 financial results, as well as guidance for 2010.

New York-based MetLife said it now expects to report operating earnings for the fourth quarter between $740 million and $785 million (90 to 95 cents per share), compared with from $132 million (17 cents per share) in the fourth quarter of 2008. Revenues for the fourth quarter of 2009 are expected to total between $8.5 billion and $9.1 billion, up about 7% from the fourth quarter of 2008.

Continue reading MetLife rises on strong preliminary Q4 results, anticipates acquisitions

MetLife rises on strong preliminary Q4 results, anticipates acquisitions originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 08 Dec 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst upgrades:

• Wells Fargo upgraded Prudential (PRU) to outperform from market perform. The firm thinks the company is in a better position than its peers and will be able to more effectively exploit M&A opportunities.
• UBS upgraded Reliance Steel (RS) to buy from neutral based on potential growth through M&A and valuation. The firm raised its target to $50 from $49.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Eastman Chemical (EMN) to buy from hold on expectations the company's portfolio transformation will drive higher normalized earnings power, which the firm believes is not fully reflected in consensus estimates. Deutsche raised its target price on shares to $70 from $62.
• Amylin Pharma (AMLN) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Cephalon (CEPH) was upgraded to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Acuity Brands (AYI) was upgraded to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: BLK, CIEN, PCLN, PRU, RS, TIF, UNP ...

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: BLK, CIEN, PCLN, PRU, RS, TIF, UNP ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's official: the holiday season is here, marking the beginning of the race to the end of the year. It's also time for another FOMC interest rate decision, as well as for another look at the employment situation, perhaps the most dreaded measure of the economic recovery in the U.S. This week will bring the Challenger job cut announcements for October on Wednesday, initial jobless claims for last week and the Monster Employment Index for October on Thursday, and the employment numbers for October on Friday.

The earnings season rolls on this week as well, and analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are expecting good showings from the reports of Boston Beer Company Inc. (NYSE: SAM), DirecTV Group Inc. (NASDAQ: DTV), Sara Lee Corp. (NYSE: SLE), Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX), and Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFMI).

Continue reading The week in preview: Eye on MasterCard, Prudential, Coinstar ...

The week in preview: Eye on MasterCard, Prudential, Coinstar ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 01 Nov 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

American International Group (NYSE: AIG), once the world's largest insurer, is selling assets outside the U.S. to repay a government bailout. The Carlyle Group, KKR, JC Flowers, and other U.S. private equity firms and Asian financial groups are reported to be interested in AIG's Taiwanese unit Nan Shan Life Insurance Co.

"Everyone hopes this is going to be a fire sale as AIG is in a difficult situation," said a local partner of Standard & Poor's.

Continue reading AIG's Taiwan unit draws interest of private equity firms

AIG's Taiwan unit draws interest of private equity firms originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If you've been watching earnings this past week, or if you read last week's Week in Preview, then this coming week may leave you feeling a bit like Bill Murray in Groundhog's Day. That is, again analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect earnings declines to be more frequent and deeper than earnings gains.

Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT), Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE: DOW), Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC), IAC Interactivecorp (NASDAQ: IACI), Moody's Corp. (NYSE: MCO), Elizabeth Arden Inc. (NASDAQ: RDEN), Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN), Diebold Inc. (NYSE: DBD), Tyco International Ltd. (NYSE: TYC), United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS), Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL), ITT Corp. (NYSE: ITT), and Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) are scheduled to report quarterly results this week, and they're all expected to report double-digit declines in earnings.

But again this week, let's take a look who Wall Street feels may have done well in the past quarter.

Continue reading The week in preview: High hopes for MasterCard, Avon, Aflac, Northrop Grumman

The week in preview: High hopes for MasterCard, Avon, Aflac, Northrop Grumman originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 01 Feb 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst upgrades:

• PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Fortress (NYSE: FIG) was upgraded at Citigroup to Hold from Sell.
• Prudential (NYSE: PUK) was lifted to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.
• Keefe Bruyette upgraded Franklin Resources (NYSE: BEN) to Outperform from Market Perform and added shares to their Best Ideas List on valuation as they see an attractive risk/reward at current levels.
• UBS upgraded ASML Holding (NASDAQ: ASML) to Buy from Neutral on valuation as they believe the company remains a market leader.
• Oppenheimer raised Seattle Genetics (NASDAQ: SGEN) to Outperform from Perform on valuation following the recent weakness as they expect positive clinical news flow beginning in December.

• UBS downgraded U.S. Steel (NYSE: X) to Sell from Buy and lowered its target to $30 from $60 citing deteriorating U.S. conditions and concerns about the company's high fixed costs in a falling steel price environment.
• Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.
  
• China Unicom (NYSE: CHU) was lowered to Underweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.

Continue reading Analyst calls: PEP, FIG, PUK, BEN, ASML, X, RDS.A, CHU, SVR ...

Analyst calls: PEP, FIG, PUK, BEN, ASML, X, RDS.A, CHU, SVR ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 27 Oct 2008 10:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: Prudential's strength is a marker for deflation

Cramer on BloggingStocks: Prudential's strength is a marker for deflation originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 04 Sep 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Seaspan, Vodafone, Telefonica and 8x8 Inc. were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Jefferies believes shares of Seaspan (NYSE: SSW) are attractively valued at current levels given the company's large modern fleet of containerships and "excellent" earnings and cash flow visibility; shares were initiated with a Buy rating and $33 target.
  
• Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) and Telefonica (NYSE: TEF) were assumed with Outperform ratings at Bernstein, as they believe their mobile growth will be stronger than expected.
  
• Kaufman Bros. believes 8x8 Inc. (NASDAQ: EGHT) is on the cusp of posting sustainable profitability and could be an attractive acquisition candidate. The firm started shares with a Buy rating and $2 target.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Goldman initiated Ford (NYSE: F) with a Neutral rating.
  
• Sensient Tech (NYSE: SXT) was started withan Outperform rating and $36 target at Oppenheimer.
  
• Friedman Billings assumed Prudential FInancial (NYSE: PRU) with a Market perform rating and $86 target.

Analyst initiations: Seaspan, Vodafone, Telefonica, 8x8 Inc. originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 15 Apr 2008 12:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• William Blair upgraded shares of MSC Industrial (NYSE: MSM) to Outperform from Market Perform on valuation and improved execution following the company's Q2 results.
  
• Keefe Bruyette raised Prudential plc (NYSE: PUK) to Outperform from Underperform as they believe the company's targets will be exceeded.
  
• Oppenheimer upgraded GrafTech (NYSE: GTI) to Outperform from Perform based on strong fundamentals, improving margins, and a strong 2008 order book.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• HFF Inc. (NYSE: HF) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
  
• Lehman raised Canadian Natural (NYSE: CNQ) to Overweight from Equal Weight.

Analyst upgrades: MSC Industrial, Prudential plc, GrafTech originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 09 Apr 2008 11:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.