RenaissanceRe upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Barclays

Barclays upgraded RenaissanceRe (RNR) to Equal Weight from Underweight with a price target of $256, up from $231. Heading into Q2 earnings, the firm is more cautious on property and casualty carriers, saying underwriting margins face pressure from softening rates and unfavorable mix shift. Barclays is more constructive on reinsurers due to “idiosyncratic tailwinds” and capital return potential in the second half of the year. The analyst sees capital deployment, mainly share repurchase, as a potential catalyst in the back half of the year for RenaissanceRe.