Berenberg nudges up target price on Beazley

Analysts at Berenberg slightly raised their target price on insurer Beazley from 610.0p to 630.0p on Monday, citing better growth, better rates, and better profitability.

Berenberg said it struggled to find any negatives from Beazley's first-quarter trading statement, with gross premiums growing by 27%, ahead of 17% rate increases, as the firm continued to take advantage of high rates to grow volumes, particularly across its speciality lines.

More importantly, Berenberg acknowledged that management had reiterated its full-year combined ratio guidance of roughly 90%, despite $50.0m of losses expected as a result of the war in Ukraine.

In fact, the German bank stated management actually went "a step further", saying that its aviation exposure was manageable and no scenarios were material enough to warrant changing the full-year guidance.

"While full clarity on ultimate aviation losses will take a while to emerge, in our view, these comments are very reassuring and should significantly alleviate investor concerns," said Berenberg, which also reiterated its 'buy' rating on the stock.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com