Genworth Financial (GNW) Gets Boost from Positive Mention

Genworth Financial (NYSE: GNW) is up Monday amid a broadly pressured trading session following a positive mention in Barron's last weekend.

The stock is up nearly 100 percent from a Barron's mention in March 2013, but recent concerns over its long-term care business has caused a 30 percent pullback in the stock. The lion's share of that move came following Q2 results, which showed LTC operating profit of $6 million, down from $46 million he prior quarter.

Investors are also nervous about claim losses, which is causing the company to take an internal review of reserves should a charge need to be taken. That info will be available at the end of Q3.

Market watchers see claims news as volatile and the stock has dipped too much in recent months. Genworth carries a tangible book value of over $29 per share, even with a $1 billion reserve charge. That's still more than twice its recent stock price.

While Genworth had an operating return on equity (ROE) of 5.2 percent in Q2, versus peers at 10 percent or more, analysts have been ratcheting estimates up. FY14, FY15 and FY16 EPS estimates are at $1.29. $1.57, and $1.75, respectively. That compares with EPS of $1.24 in FY13 and $0.82 in 2012.

Shares of Genworth are up 1.1 percent.

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