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PL, LNC, PNX, CIA, AEL, SFG, Life Insurance Stocks Overvalued

^{Published on 2011-04-12 04:51:06 - WOPRAI}
 

April 12, 2011/ M2 PRESSWIRE / BUYINS.NET / http://www.squeezetrigger.com is monitoring the Life Insurance sector and these stocks are the most undervalued as of today. PROTECTIVE LIFE CORP (NYSE:PL), LINCOLN NATIONAL CORP (NYSE:LNC), PHOENIX COMPANIES INC (NYSE:PNX), CITIZENS INC (NYSE:CIA), AMERICAN EQUITY INVT LIFE HL (NYSE:AEL), STANCORP FINANCIAL GROUP (NYSE:SFG) are all expected to go Down as they are Overvalued according to industry standard valuation metrics. The valuation model employs a three-factor approach to stock valuation using fundamental variables--the company's trailing 12-month Earnings-Per-Share (EPS), the analyst consensus estimate of the company's forecasted 12-month EPS, and the 30-year Treasury yield--to create a highly accurate reflection of a company's fair value.

The chart below displays the projected Fair Value and Valuation discount/premium of the most undervalued stocks in the highlighted industry group:

     Symbol     Company Name                        Last Close     Fair Value     Valuation                   Industry               
     PL         PROTECTIVE LIFE CORP                $26.52         $23.98         20.70% Overvalued           Life Insurance         
     LNC        LINCOLN NATIONAL CORP               $29.76         $27.93         20.70% Overvalued           Life Insurance         
     PNX        PHOENIX COMPANIES INC               $2.58          $0.73          20.70% Overvalued           Life Insurance         
     CIA        CITIZENS INC                        $7.15          $6.60          20.70% Overvalued           Life Insurance         
     AEL        AMERICAN EQUITY INVT LIFE HL        $13.06         $11.00         20.70% Overvalued           Life Insurance         
     SFG        STANCORP FINANCIAL GROUP            $46.62         $42.12         20.70% Overvalued           Life Insurance         

Here are some of the variables that are utilized when calculating the Fair Market Valuation of a stock: Long-run EPS growth rate, Duration of Business-growth-cycle, Volatility of EPS growth rate, Systematic or beta risk of the firm, Correlation between the firm's EPS and the interest rate environment, EPS growth volatility, Dividend payout ratio, Buffer earnings, Interest rate related criteria: Interest rate (30 year yield) long-run level, Duration of interest rate cycle, Interest rate volatility. The Fair Market Valuation uses 12-month historic and forecasted EPS values and the current 30-year treasury yield as primary determinants. When calculating risk/return values such as the Sharpe ratio, the historic periods used are five years.

Some expected results of the Valuation Model are: the valuation of a stock increases in a declining interest rate environment. Increasing current and/or projected EPS will produce a higher Valuation. While long-term EPS growth would produce a corresponding long-term Valuation increase, concomitant long-term interest rate increases would offset EPS growth and depress the Valuation. The shorter a company's own business cycle, the higher its stock Valuation will be.

PROTECTIVE LIFE CORP (NYSE:PL) - Protective Life Corporation and its subsidiaries engage in the production, distribution, and administration of insurance and investment products in the United States. It operates in five segments: Life Marketing, Acquisitions, Annuities, Stable Value Products, and Asset Protection. The Life Marketing segment markets level premium term insurance, universal life, variable universal life, and bank owned life insurance products through various distribution channels, as well as a network of independent personal producing general agents. The Acquisitions segment focuses on acquiring, converting, and servicing life insurance policies and annuity products sold to individuals, which are acquired from other companies. The Annuities segment markets, supports, and sells fixed and variable annuity products through broker-dealers, financial institutions, and independent agents and brokers. Its fixed annuities include modified guaranteed annuities, single premium deferred annuities, single premium immediate annuities, and equity indexed annuities; and variable annuities offer the opportunity to the policyholder to invest in various investment accounts. The Stable Value Products segment sells guaranteed funding agreements to special purpose entities, as well as markets fixed and floating rate funding agreements directly to the trustees of municipal bond proceeds, institutional investors, bank trust departments, and money market funds. It also markets guaranteed investment contracts and other qualified retirement savings plans. The Asset Protection segment primarily markets extended service contracts and credit life and disability insurance to protect consumers investments in automobiles, watercraft, and recreational vehicles; and markets a guaranteed asset protection product. It markets its products through a network of approximately 3,750 automobile, marine, and recreational vehicle dealers. The company was founded in 1907 and is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama.

LINCOLN NATIONAL CORP (NYSE:LNC) - Lincoln National Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in multiple insurance and retirement businesses in the United States. It sells a range of wealth protection, accumulation, and retirement income products and solutions. These products include fixed and indexed annuities, variable annuities, universal life insurance (UL), variable universal life insurance (VUL), linked-benefit UL, term life insurance, mutual funds, and group life insurance. The company also provides employer-sponsored fixed and variable annuities, and mutual fund-based programs; single and survivorship versions of UL and VUL, including corporate-owned UL and VUL, and bank-owned UL and VUL products to small and mid-sized banks and large-sized corporations; and group non-medical insurance products, principally term life, disability, and dental. Lincoln National Corporation distributes its products through a range of intermediaries, including financial advisors, consultants, brokers, banks, wirehouses, planners, third party administrators, and other intermediaries. The company was founded in 1904 and is headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania.

PHOENIX COMPANIES INC (NYSE:PNX) - The Phoenix Companies, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides life insurance and annuity products in the United States. The companys life insurance products include universal life, variable universal life, and other products. It also offers single life, first-to-die, and second-to-die insurance products. Its annuity products include fixed, variable, and other types of annuities, which it offers in deferred and immediate varieties. In addition, the company offers a hybrid insurance/investment product, which adds a lifetime income guarantee to an investors managed account assets; and manages fixed income investments for third parties, including mutual funds, pension plans, and endowments. The company offers its products through third-party distributors, wholesalers, and financial planning specialists. The Phoenix Companies, Inc. was founded in 1851 and is headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut.

CITIZENS INC (NYSE:CIA) - Citizens, Inc. and its subsidiaries provide life and health insurance products and services in the United States and internationally. Its Life Insurance segment engages in issuing ordinary whole life insurance products to foreign residents, high net worth and high income residents, and middle income households. This segment offers its products through independent marketing firms and consultants in Latin America and the Pacific Rim. The companys Home Service Insurance segment focuses on the life insurance needs of the middle to lower income market in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas. This segment sells ordinary whole life products to provide funding individuals final expenses, primarily consisting of funeral and other burial costs, as well as offers limited liability, named peril property policies covering dwellings and contents. Home Service Insurance segment provides policies and services through home service marketing distribution system agents, who sell policies, collect premiums, and service policyholders. The company was founded in 1969 and is based in Austin, Texas.

AMERICAN EQUITY INVT LIFE HL (NYSE:AEL) - American Equity Investment Life Holding Company, through its subsidiaries, provides annuities and life insurance products in the United States and the District of Columbia. The company underwrites annuity and insurance products, as well as collects renewal premiums on certain accident and health insurance policies. Its annuity products include fixed index annuities and fixed rate annuities, as well as single premium immediate annuities. The companys insurance products comprise traditional ordinary and term, universal life, and other interest-sensitive life insurance products. It markets its products through a brokerage distribution network of approximately 50 national marketing organizations and approximately 41,000 independent agents. The company was founded in 1995 and is based in West Des Moines, Iowa.

STANCORP FINANCIAL GROUP (NYSE:SFG) - StanCorp Financial Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides group insurance products and services in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Insurance Services and Asset Management. The Insurance Services segment offers group and individual disability, group life, accidental death and dismemberment, and group dental and vision insurance products, as well as absence management services to individuals and employer groups. Its Asset Management segment provides 401(K) plans, 403(b) plans, 457 plans, defined benefit plans, money purchase pension plans, profit sharing plans, and non-qualified deferred compensation products and services through an affiliated broker-dealer. This segment also offers investment management and advisory services, financial planning services, commercial mortgage loan origination and servicing, individual fixed-rate annuity products, group annuity contracts, and retirement plan trust products. The company sells its products through master general agents, brokers, consultants, and financial institutions primarily to physicians, lawyers, executives, employer groups, professionals, small business owners, and individuals. StanCorp Financial Group was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Portland, Oregon.

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