UPDATE: Credit Suisse Reiterates Neutral Rating, Raises PT on Protective Life Corp. on Announced Dai-Ichi Life Deal

In a report published Wednesday, Credit Suisse analyst Thomas Gallagher reiterated a Neutral rating on

, and raised the price target from $53.00 to $70.00. In the report, Credit Suisse noted, “We view the announced deal as a positive for the rest of the sector as a company with relatively high asset leverage and a decent sized VA block is being acquired at 1.67x bv and 13x 2015 P/E, both premiums to the sector (of 1.1x and 9.5x). The negative angle we thought on the Nikkei report earlier this week was that PL has historically been a savvy buyer of insurance businesses and was selling at just a modest 15-20% premium. Now with the $700mm to $800mm of additional proceeds, we see the ~30% premium as more reasonable. We note that this deal compares favorably to Tokio Marine's purchase of DFG in 2011, which was done at ~11x year ahead EPS estimates and 1.5x P/BV multiple with a more desirable business mix in our opinion.” Protective Life Corp. closed on Tuesday at $58.72.