[ET Net News Agency, 9 April 2020] Morgan Stanley lowered its target price for China
Reinsurance (Group)(01508) to HK$0.8 from HK$1.3 and maintained its "underweight" rating.
The research house said China Re's earnings growth resumed in 2019, up a strong 62%.
However, shares have not reacted to its fundamental improvement, and reached new lows,
down 29% year to date, making it one of the worst performers in Morgan's insurance space.
The company has lost 60% of its market cap since the IPO and some of its
long-term shareholders are likely reducing their positions. It is running at a 5% 2020
dividend yield, no longer high compared with other names.
Re-rating can also be hard given its poor track record, opaque business model and slow
pace to divest capital and improve ROE (return on equity), Morgan noted. (KL)