UPDATE: Bank of America Downgrades Aegon NV to Neutral, Lowers PT as Divestments are Further Delayed

In a report published Monday, Bank of America analyst Michael van Wegen downgraded the rating on

from Buy to Neutral, and lowered the price target from $10.40 to $8.72. In the report, Bank of America noted, “The main reason for our downgrade is that we now expect divestments to take longer than initially expected. As a result, distribution to shareholders will be more in line with peers and we expect no material improvement in the ROE in the near term. However, we do still expect the company to eventually divest these assets, but more on a 2-3 year horizon, rather than a 12-18m horizon. The shares are currently trading at 9.7x P/E '15, a small discount compared to the sector. The shares offer a 4% dividend yield (2015), or 7% including expected share buyback, compared to 5% for the sector.” Aegon NV closed on Friday at $7.65.