Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of StanCorp Financial Group Inc. (SFG) from NEUTRAL to UNDERPERFORM on July 17, 2012, with a target price of $34.00.
We are downgrading StanCorp Financial to Underperform from Neutral, following the company's announcement to post lower earnings in the second quarter. The company expects earnings to be $0.51 per share, hurt by lower favorable claims experience in the group long-term disability insurance business. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is currently pegged at $0.85. The company is scheduled to release its second quarter results on July 23 after the bell. The company also expects to fall short of its full-year guidance, given its soft performance in the first half of the year. Nevertheless, we believe premium growth, continued good investment performance, conservative underwriting practices, and focus on increasing shareholder value along with a strong capital position auger well for the company over a longer term. Management also remains focused on improving the group disability insurance benefit ratio, given the pricing actions taken at the long-term disability business.
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