UPDATE: Bank of America Raises PO to $40 on Validus Holdings

Bank of America reiterated its Buy rating on Validus Holdings

and raised its price target from $39 to $40. Bank of America said, "We are nudging up our price objective to $40 from $39 due to a slightly higher estimated year-ahead book value, mostly due to the better than expected earnings in the 3Q and the accretion from the pending Flagstone deal. We believe the merits a multiple of at least 1x book value given the expected ROE of 11% to 12% offset partly by the normal volatility around this ROE. The shares reacted negative to the earnings and a management change, and we view the weakness as an especially good buying opportunity." Validus Holdings closed at $36.03 on Friday.