Genworth Financial (NYSE:GNW) Downgraded to "Sell" Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Genworth Financial has been downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "hold" to a "sell" rating, reflecting a negative shift in market sentiment towards the stock.
• Despite the downgrade, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods has raised the company's target price from $9.50 to $10.00, maintaining an "outperform" rating.
• Recently, CEO Rohit Gupta sold over 86,000 shares, representing a significant cut in his ownership stake by approximately 9.81%.

Genworth Financial (NYSE:GNW - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report released on Saturday.

GNW has been the topic of several other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Genworth Financial from $9.50 to $10.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Genworth Financial in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Genworth Financial has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $10.00.

Genworth Financial Stock Performance

GNW stock opened at $8.52 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.93 and a beta of 0.99. Genworth Financial has a 1 year low of $5.99 and a 1 year high of $9.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $8.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $7.66.

Genworth Financial (NYSE:GNW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.80 billion for the quarter. Genworth Financial had a return on equity of 1.91% and a net margin of 2.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Genworth Financial news, CEO Rohit Gupta sold 86,406 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.68, for a total transaction of $750,004.08. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 794,630 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,897,388.40. This trade represents a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Genworth Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Genworth Financial by 30.5% during the third quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 817,996 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,280,000 after acquiring an additional 191,384 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Genworth Financial by 16.3% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 13,683 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $122,000 after purchasing an additional 1,913 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its holdings in shares of Genworth Financial by 50.9% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 180,283 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,403,000 after purchasing an additional 60,787 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of Genworth Financial by 20.2% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 377,063 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,934,000 after purchasing an additional 63,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming increased its holdings in shares of Genworth Financial by 326.2% in the second quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 34,583 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $269,000 after purchasing an additional 26,469 shares during the last quarter. 81.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Genworth Financial

Genworth Financial, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides mortgage and long-term care insurance products in the United States and internationally. It operates in three segments: Enact, Long-Term Care Insurance, and Life and Annuities. The Enact segment offers private mortgage insurance products primarily insuring prime-based, individually underwritten residential mortgage loans; and pool mortgage insurance products.

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