Kingstone Companies downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler analyst Paul Newsome downgraded Kingstone Companies to Neutral from Overweight with a price target of $1.60, down from $2.45. The analyst made number of rating changes in insurance to better reflect the Q4 results and updated views on the group. "Smaller and weaker" companies will generally trade differently than larger insurers today, the firm tells investors in a research note. It thinks rising interest rates will cause smaller and weaker companies to trade closer to reported book value because investors will assume that they will ultimately have to realize unrealized investment losses. Second, the smaller companies are all more affected by higher reinsurance prices, Piper adds.