Reinsurance Group of America upped to Neutral at Credit Suisse on mortality trends

Credit Suisse analyst Andrew Kligerman on Thursday has upgraded Reinsurance Group of America (NYSE:RGA) to Neutral from Underperform on the basis of better COVID-19 conditions, as well as improving mortality trends.
Shares of RGA are ticking higher by 0.7% in premarket trading.
Kligerman explained that the company's "risk remains high, "considering its broad global mortality exposure," he wrote in a note, adding that international vaccination rates are nine percentage points lower compared with the U.S.
Still, the analyst bumped up his 2022 EPS estimate to $9.54 per share vs. $8.68 in the prior view. For 2023, he sees EPS of $14.01 vs. $13.73 in the previous forecast. Meanwhile, a group of 12 analysts project RGA's 2022 EPS to be $9.93, expanding to $14.99 in 2023.
By comparison, SA's Quant Rating screens RGA as a Buy, while the Average Wall Street Analyst Rating views it as a Hold (2 Strong Buy, 4 Buy, 3 Hold, 1 Sell, 2 Strong Sell).
Previously, (May 24) Citigroup ranked Reinsurance Group of America as a Sell.