Investors should buy American International Group shares on improving profit margins and large stock buybacks, according to Goldman Sachs, which reiterated its buy rating and added the company to its Americas conviction buy list.
AIG last week reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings. The insurer's shares are down 5 percent on the year, but are up 11.5 percent in the past month as of Friday's close.
"Higher rates could also be a positive catalyst for AIG, but absent a move higher in the yield curve we now see ballast from two AIG-specific elements: margin improvement and capital deployment," Goldman's Michael Nannizzi wrote in a note to clients Monday. "We continue to believe that the market underappreciates the accretive impact of AIG's elevated buybacks as it continues to trade at a significant discount to P&C [property and casualty] peers."
