Reinsurance Group Rallies 35.1% YTD: What's Driving the Stock?

Reinsurance Group of America RGA shares have rallied 35.1% year to date (YTD) compared with the industry's growth of 21.5%. The Finance sector and the Zacks S&P 500 index have returned 14.3% and 20% YTD, respectively. With a market capitalization of $14.39 billion, the average volume of shares traded in the last three months was 0.3 million.

RGA Outperforms Industry, Sector, S&P YTD

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The rally was driven by its strong momentum in U.S. Traditional, Longevity/PRT, Asia Asset-Intensive and Asia Traditional, along with solid growth projections.

RGA has a VGM Score of A. VGM Score helps identify stocks with the most attractive value, best growth and the most promising momentum.

RGA Trading Above 50-Day and 200-Day Moving Average

This Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) insurance broker closed at $218.58 on Thursday, above its 50-day and 200-day simple moving average of $213.23 and $193.40, respectively, indicating solid upward momentum. SMA is a widely used technical analysis tool to predict future price trends by analyzing historical price data.

Reinsurance Group's Earnings Surprise History

Reinsurance Group has a decent earnings surprise history. Its earnings beat estimates in each of the last four quarters with an average surprise of 20.51%.

RGA's Growth Projection Encourages

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Reinsurance Group's 2024 earnings per share indicates a year-over-year increase of 9.1%. The consensus estimate for revenues is pegged at $21.85 billion, implying a year-over-year improvement of 14.7%.

The consensus estimate for 2025 earnings per share indicates a year-over-year increase of 3.4% from the corresponding 2024 estimates.

The expected long-term earnings growth rate is 10.4%, outperforming the industry average of 4.6%. RGA has an impressive Growth Score of B. This style score helps analyze the growth prospects of a company.

Reinsurance Group's Return on Invested Capital

Its return on invested capital has increased every year. This reflects RGA's efficiency in utilizing funds to generate income. ROIC in the trailing 12 months was 6.8%, higher than the industry average of 0.6%.

Optimistic Analyst Sentiment for RGA

Each of the five analysts covering the stock has raised estimates for 2024, and four analysts have raised the same for 2025 over the past 60 days. The consensus estimate for 2024 and 2025 has moved 2.8% and 1.9% north, respectively, in the past 60 days.

RGA's Expensive Valuation

The stock is undervalued compared to its industry. It is currently trading at a price-to-book multiple of 1.46, lower than the industry average of 1.96.

Will RGA's Rally Stay?

Reinsurance Group is a leader in the U.S. and Latin American traditional markets. It has successfully expanded its product line with market-leading services, capabilities, expertise and innovation. Individual mortality has matured and provides a base for stable earnings and capital generation.
Significant value embedded in the in-force business is anticipated to generate predictable long-term earnings. Product-line expansion contributes to risk diversification.

In Canada, Reinsurance Group is a market leader with solid growth and profitability. It has a sizable block of in-force business, which acts as a significant source of future earnings. Reinsurance Group expects longevity insurance, which is projected to witness steady demand, to experience long-term growth in the Canadian market. While longevity insurance provides a source of diversified income, it also acts as a hedge to a large mortality position.

Demand for protection products among the emerging global middle class and increasing demand for retirement, senior protection and savings products among aging populations create opportunities for growth in new business.

RGA is well-capitalized and has access to multiple forms of capital. RGA expects to remain active in deploying capital in attractive growth opportunities while balancing returning excess capital to shareholders over time.

RGA continues to ramp up technological inclusion with its product. This insurer is a global biometric liability reinsurance leader. Biometrics experience, which includes mortality, morbidity and longevity, over the last five quarters was favorable. Notably, its free cash flow conversion has remained more than 85% over the last many quarters, reflecting its solid earnings.

Wealth Distribution

This global reinsurer has also been managing capital effectively via share buybacks, dividend payments and prudent investments. RGA expects to remain active in deploying capital into attractive growth opportunities in organic flow and in-force block transactions and returning excess capital to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. The company exited the second quarter of 2024 with excess capital of around $1 billion, reflecting a solid capital position.

Key Picks

Investors interested in the life insurance industry may look at some better-ranked players like Baldwin Insurance Group, Inc. BWIN, Brighthouse Financial, Inc. BHF and Primerica, Inc. PRI, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Baldwin Insurance's 2024 and 2025 earnings implies year-over-year growth of 38.3% and 32.2%, respectively. BWIN beat earnings estimates in each of the past four quarters, with an average surprise of 11.88%. Year to date, shares of BWIN have gained 108.4%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Brighthouse Financial's 2024 and 2025 earnings implies year-over-year growth of 29.8% and 9.1%, respectively. It beat earnings estimates in three of the past four quarters while missing in one, with an average surprise of 3.76%. Year to date, shares of BHF have lost 16.3%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Primerica's 2024 and 2025 earnings implies year-over-year growth of 12.2% and 10.9%, respectively. It beat earnings estimates in two of the past four quarters and missed in two, with an average surprise of 1.74%. Year to date, shares of PRI have climbed 29.6%.

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