LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - JPMorgan Cazenove downgraded Legal & General on Wednesday to 'neutral' from 'overweight' and cut the price target to 275p from 290p on valuation, earnings outlook and competition risks.
The bank noted that L&G beat consensus operating profit in the first half and management raised guidance for back-book optimisation in profit and management actions in Solvency II.

"However, we are only raising our forecasts modestly - and see limited scope for positive surprises relative to current consensus," JPM said.

"We are taking a more cautious view on L&G based on relative valuation, ongoing negative investment variances weighing on net profit, dividends and buybacks not covered by free cash flow and rising competition in the UK PRT (Pension Risk Transfer) market."

At 0920 BST, the shares were down 1.1% at 257.16p.

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