Ahead Of The Bell: Insurers Mixed

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of major insurers were mixed in Friday premarket trading after Genworth Financial Inc. and Allstate Corp.'s quarterly results missed Wall Street expectations, a government evaluation showed that MetLife Inc. doesn't need to raise more capital and an analyst said that stocks of some insurers have room to rise.

Richmond, Va.-based Genworth said late Thursday that it lost $469 million, or $1.08 per share in the three months ended in March, and said it would sell up to 49 percent of its Canadian mortgage insurance division to raise money. Excluding one-time charges, income was 3 cents per share on revenue of $1.7 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected profit of 19 cents a share on revenue of $2.7 billion. Its shares slid slid 11 percent, or 49 cents, to $4.10.

Meanwhile, Northbrook, Ill.-based Allstate tumbled after its results also missed Wall Street estimates as investment income slipped and the number of policies in force fell. Its shares dropped 7 percent, or $1.95, to $25.65.

But there was also some good news in the sector as the government's stress test of 19 financial institutions found that New York-based insurer MetLife won't need to raise fresh capital. Also, life insurance stocks are up 225 percent since their March 5 lows, Deutsche Bank analyst Darin Arita said in a note to investors and could continue to gain if investors think the economy and financial markets will improve.