Bank of America Merrill Lynch Reiterates Buy Rating, $39 PT on Validus Holdings

In a report published Monday, Bank of America Merrill Lynch reiterated its Buy rating and $39.00 price target on Validus Holdings, Ltd.

. BofA Merrill Lynch noted, “Validus expects a net negative impact from hurricane Sandy, net of reinstatement premiums and reinsurance, retrocessional and other recoveries of $333.1 million. This equates to 8.8% of 3Q equity, near the high end of the range of those that have announced Sandy-related losses. Marine-related losses likely explain part of the overage from our estimate. This breaks down into $256.2 million in the Validus Re segment and $76.9 million in the Talbot segment. We had estimated about $207 million in total Sandy losses, about $177 million in Validus Re and $30 million in Talbot. We are lowering estimates to account for the higher Sandy loss.” Validus Holdings, Ltd. closed on Friday at $33.74.