Xl Group Plc (NYSE: XL) was downgraded by Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued on Monday. They currently have a $21.00 price target on the stock.
The analysts wrote, “We downgrade XL to Sell, relative to our Attractive coverage view, with 3% upside to our new $21, 12-month price target vs. 12% average upside for the sector. We believe XL’s professional liability-heavy book, along with the ramp in hiring we saw last year, will make it difficult for XL to see margin expansion from the moderate improvement in pricing that we expect will remain mostly confined to commercial lines. Without a broad, significant turn in overall pricing (including professional lines) – which we do not expect – we think margin improvement at XL will lag peers with a lower expense load or without books of business that require fixing.”
Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Analysts at Zacks reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Xl Group Plc in a research note to investors on Thursday, May 10th. They now have a $23.00 price target on the stock. Separately, analysts at UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Xl Group Plc in a research note to investors on Wednesday, May 9th.
Shares of Xl Group Plc traded down 0.44% during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $20.26. Xl Group Plc has a 52 week low of $17.69 and a 52 week high of $24.82. The company’s market cap is $6.315 billion.
Xl Group Plc last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 8th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.12. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Xl Group Plc will post $0.35 earnings per share next quarter.
XL Group plc (XL) through its subsidiaries, is a global insurance and reinsurance company providing property, casualty and specialty products to industrial, commercial and, professional firms, insurance companies and other enterprises on a worldwide basis.
