Wunderlich Downgrades EPS On Aspen Insurance Holdings (AHL)

Wudnderlich Securities provided color on Aspen Insurance Holdings AHL in a research report published today. Following bad Q1 results, when Aspen Insurance reported a loss of $2.40 per share, against consensus estimate of a $2.27 loss and Wunderlich's $2.05, Wunderlich decided to cut its earnings per share estimates for 2011 and 2012. In the report, Wunderlich states,"We are lowering our 2011 EPS estimate to $0.40 from $1.15 to reflect higher losses in 1Q11, lower investment yields, and conservative catastrophe assumptions for the 3Q11 hurricane season... Our 2012 EPS estimate is $3.35, down from $3.75, reflecting AHL's conservative investment strategy that suffers in the low interest rate environment." Wunderlich has a Buy rating on Aspen Insurance's shares, however. Wunderlich summed its optimism by saying: "As property/casualty pricing improves, we expect rising profits from increased prices will result in an expansion of AHL's valuation." Wunderlich's price target on Aspen Insurance is set to $37.00. On Friday, Aspen Insurance's shares lost 0.03% to end the week at $28.57.