National Western Life Insurance stock upgraded (NWLI)

National Western Life Insurance Stock Upgraded (NWLI)

By TheStreet Wire    07/FEB/12

NEW YORK (TheStreet) — National Western Life Insurance (Nasdaq:NWLI) has been upgraded by TheStreet Ratings from hold to buy. The company’s strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its growth in earnings per share, increase in net income, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, attractive valuation levels and good cash flow from operations. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had lackluster performance in the stock itself.

Highlights from the ratings report include:

■ NATIONAL WESTERN LIFE has improved earnings per share by 43.2% in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. The company has demonstrated a pattern of positive earnings per share growth over the past two years. During the past fiscal year, NATIONAL WESTERN LIFE increased its bottom line by earning $20.04 versus $12.51 in the prior year.

■ The net income growth from the same quarter one year ago has significantly exceeded that of the S&P 500 and the Insurance industry. The net income increased by 43.3% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, rising from $13.44 million to $19.26 million.

■ NWLI has no debt to speak of therefore resulting in a debt-to-equity ratio of zero, which we consider to be a relatively favorable sign.

■ Net operating cash flow has increased to $81.90 million or 44.43% when compared to the same quarter last year. In addition, NATIONAL WESTERN LIFE has also vastly surpassed the industry average cash flow growth rate of -13.95%.

National Western Life Insurance Company provides life insurance products for the savings and protection needs of policyholders and annuity contracts for the asset accumulation and retirement needs of contract holders. The company has a P/E ratio of 7.5, above the average insurance industry P/E ratio of seven and below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. National Western Life has a market cap of $485.5 million and is part of the financial sector and insurance industry. Shares are up 12.7% year to date as of the close of trading on Monday.

You can view the full National Western Life Ratings Report or get investment ideas from our investment research center.

— Written by a member of TheStreet RatingsStaff

Fuente: The Street, 07/02/12.

For more information on National Western Life Insurance click any of the following:

§  National Western Life Insurance Stock Price

§  National Western Life Insurance Analyst Ratings

§  National Western Life Insurance Key Stats & Profile

§  National Western Life Insurance Earnings

§  National Western Life Insurance Ratio Comparison

§  National Western Life Insurance Growth Rates

§  National Western Life Insurance Balance Sheet

§  National Western Life Insurance Cash Flow

§  National Western Life Insurance Income Statement

 
Austin, TEXAS. USA.

National Western Life Insurance is Among the Companies in the Life & Health Insurance Industry With the Highest Free Cash Flow Per Share (NWLI, FFG, PRU, MET, PFG)

Feb 07, 2012 (SmarTrend(R) News Watch via COMTEX) — Below are the three companies in the Life & Health Insurance industry with the highest free cash flow per share. FCF/share is a valuable metric signaling a company’s ability to facilitate growth in the business. National Western Life Insurance ranks highest with a FCF per share of $52.19. FBL Financial Group is next with a FCF per share of $16.89. Prudential Financial ranks third highest with a FCF per share of $14.01.

[February 07, 2012] 

Fuente: http://insurance-technology.tmcnet.com/news/2012/02/07/6102711.htm   07/02/12