In total, around 200 analyst recommendations were published for Hannover Re and the insurance sector in the 2015 financial year. By the end of the year 32 analysts had handed down opinions on Hannover Re: three analysts (6) recommended the Hannover Re share as “buy” or “overweight”. Altogether eight opinions (20) were a “hold”. “Underweight” or “sell” recommendations were issued a total of 21 (7) times, making this the most common. According to analysts, the marked shift in recommendations away from “hold” towards “sell” within the year was motivated by the significantly more favourable performance – looked at in relative terms – of the Hannover Re share measured against comparable stocks and hence the supposedly limited scope for growth on the valuation side. Parallel to this, the analysts raised the average price target substantially from EUR 67.49 at the start of the year to EUR 91.88 at year-end (+36.1%).