JPMorgan analyst Jimmy Bhullar shifted is view on the Life Insurance sector to negative from neutral ahead of the Q3 reporting season. His outlook for business fundamentals is "incrementally cautious" and he feels that consensus 2020 earnings estimates for most insurers are too high. In addition, stock prices do not seem to have reacted to the decline in interest rates, Bhullar tells investors in a research note. The analyst lowered his estimates for most companies, and his numbers for 2020 are now "considerably below" consensus on AIG (AIG), Hartford Financial (HIG), and Voya Financial (VOYA), but slightly above for Aflac (AFL) and Unum Group (UNM). For Q3, Bhullar thinks consensus estimates for Athene Holding (ATH) and Reinsurance Group (RGA) are" especially high," while numbers for Principal Financial (PFG) "seem conservative." Globe Life (GL) and Lincoln National (LNC) are the analyst's top picks and he remains negative on Brighthouse Financial (BHF).

After underperforming for the last six weeks amid the Department of Justice’s subpoena over agent sales practices and the recent short report on alleged widespread fraud, shares of Global Life (GL) are on the rise on Wednesday following quarterly results and comments by the company on its willingness to accelerate and possibly increase buybacks. Keefe Bruyette upgraded... To see the rest of the story go to thefly.com. See Story Here

Evercore ISI raised the firm's price target on Globe Life to $83 from $75 and keeps an In Line rating on the shares. The firm is raising its earnings estimates to reflect the company's decision to get more aggressive on share repurchases and the independent audit being conducted by an outside law firm of its American Income Life operations, though it notes there is still uncertainty with what the DOJ subpoenas might bring.

Notable gainers among liquid option names this morning include Globe Life (GL) $71.33 +4.94, Super Micro (SMCI) $764.85 +47.83, Danaher (DHR) $250.88 +14.79, Kimberly Clark (KMB) $136.87 +7.94, and General Motors (GM) $45.38 +2.17.