RSA share price: Insurer unveils senior hires at commercial business

RSA Insurance (LON:RSA) has moved to boost its commercial business with new hires, the blue-chip insurer has said. The news comes after the FTSE 100 company appointed a new director of its specialty and wholesale (S&W) business in November.

RSA’s share price has fallen into the red in today’s session, having given up 0.23 percent to 522.80p as of 13:37 GMT. The stock is underperforming the broader London market, with the benchmark FTSE 100 index having climbed into positive territory this Friday and currently standing 0.23 percent higher at 6,834.68 points. The insurer’s shares have given up more than 15 percent of their value over the past year, as compared with about a 10.3-percent dip in the Footsie.

RSA unveils new senior hires

RSA announced in a statement yesterday that it had made a number of senior appointments in its commercial business divisions – Commercials Risk Solutions (CRS) and Global Risk Solutions (GRS). The company has made two internal appointments in the GRS business with Calvin Gray taking on the role of Sales & Distribution Director, and Anne Mehta being appointed as Head of Governance & Control. Alex Hardy will join RSA from specialist broker-only insurer ERS as Sales & Distribution Director for CRS.

The blue-chip insurer noted in the statement that the appointments were aimed at supporting the divisions’ growth and development following a refocus of some commercial activities.

Analysts on blue-chip insurer

BNP Paribas, which rates the company as an ‘outperform,’ lowered its price target on the shares from 740p to 640p this week, while HSBC, which is bullish on the company with a ‘buy’ stance, trimmed its valuation on the stock from 705p to 700p. According to MarketBeat, the blue-chip group currently has a consensus ‘buy’ rating and an average price target of 649.17p.

RSA is scheduled to update investors on its full-year performance on February 28.

As of 13:54 GMT, Friday, 25 January, RSA Insurance Group plc share price is 522.80p.