Reinsurance Group upgraded to Buy from Sell at Citi

Citi analyst Michael Ward double upgraded Reinsurance Group to Buy from Sell with a price target of $158, up from $133. Unum and Reinsurance Group have two of the more solid fundamental stories across life insurance, on top of being oversold recently, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm says the stocks should be outperforming in a market such as this given their "defensive characteristics," including limited balance sheet and earnings risk to structured credit, real estate and equity markets, as well as more narrow, focused business mixes. Citi also sees a "lack of liability run risk" for the life insurance sector.