Nomura has reiterated its buy recommendation and 180p target price for insurance group Legal and General after its 2011 results came in ahead of consensus expectations in key areas.The group generated an IFRS operating profit of £1,056m, from £1,002 in 2010, and just ahead of estimates of £1,042m. Net cash generation was £846m, above the £817m forecast.However, Nomura says the focus of the results was on the dividend, which was raised by 35% to 6.4p, surpassing expectations of 5.93p."Dividend cash cover was 2.25x in 2011 and the company's guidance is to reduce this to 2x or below in the medium term, providing scope for further structural increases in the dividend, in our view," the broker said.Nomura added that the earnings growth seen in 2011 was mainly driven by a capital light strategy of growing its asset management and unit-linked savings business. The broker said that L&G's valuation still remains attractive, with the stock trading at 7.5 times 2012 forecast earnings, versus the European insurance sector average multiple of eight. Furthermore, Nomura forecasts a superior three-year average return on equity of 17%, versus the 13% sector average.The stock was the best performer on the FTSE 100 on Wednesday morning, trading up 4.9% at 131.5p at 11:00.BC