Life Partners is one of the few publicly traded life settlement companies so it is good to follow how the market is reacting to their business.

Shares of Life Partners Holdings Inc (LPHI) hit a new 52-week low on Tuesday. The stock traded as low as $6.91 during mid-day trading and last traded at $7.22. The stock previously closed at $8.17.

Life Partners Inc is engaged in the secondary market for life insurance known generally as life settlements. LPI facilitates the sale of life settlements between sellers and purchasers, but does not take possession or control of the policies. The purchasers acquire the life insurance policies at a discount to their face value for investment purposes. Life settlement transactions involve the sale of an existing life insurance policy to another party. By selling the policy, the policyholder receives an immediate cash payment to use as he or she wishes. The purchaser takes an ownership interest in the policy at a discount to its face value and receives the death benefit under the policy when the insured dies.

On a related note, analysts at Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of Life Partners Holdings Inc from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note to investors on Tuesday, February 1st.

Current stock chart on February 16, 2011 at 10:40 am eastern: