Lincoln 'confident'; will rates stay flat?

Shares of Lincoln National Corp., the Radnor-based insurance and investments company that owns naming rights for the Eagles stadium, are trading above $59 for the first time in six years, and Lincoln CEO Dennis Glass and his managers are "confident of their prospects" for yearly profit growth of 8-10%, Robert Glasspiegel, analyst at Janney Capital Markets in Philadelphia, tells clients in a report today.

Glasspiegel notes some concerns (in addition to interest-rate and stock-market risk): Lincoln has cut way back on its old policy of reinsuring its life insurance, and is holding a lot more of the risk on the books, Glasspiegel notes. He points out that Swiss Re and other European insurers have said they are worried customers are living longer than expected, so they are having to pay some annuities longer than expected. He's watching to see "if this is just a European insurer problem" or whether American firms like Lincoln will have to change their assumptions, too.

Glasspiegel also says Lincoln is investing more money (6%-12% of its new investments) into high-yield junk bonds. He questions "if this is a good time to be re-risking in light of where yields, spreads and valuations are today."

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Lincoln 'confident'; will rates stay flat?