Barron's sees property-and-casualty insurers rising

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Shares of property-and-casualty insurers such as Allstate Corp (ALL.N), ACE Ltd (ACE.N), Chubb Corp (CB.N) and WR Berkley Corp (WRB.N) are attractive and could rise 20 percent in the next year, Barron's said on Sunday.

These stocks are the safest major part of the financial sector, Barron's said, due to their strong balance sheets and ample earnings. Still, the business paper said they are trailing the market this year, after outpacing it last year, as Wall Street has favored riskier bets such as life insurers, securities firms and banks.

Barron's cited an analyst who sees property-and-casualty insurers generating low-double-digit returns on equity this year, while producing similar increases in book value.

The analyst also favors reinsurers such as Everest Re Group Ltd (RE.N) and PartnerRe Ltd (PRE.N). Barron's said the reinsurers should have a strong 2009 given the light hurricane season and solid reserves. It said RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd (RNR.N) was attractive as well.

(Reporting by Martinne Geller; Editing by Diane Craft)