F&G Annuities & Life (NYSE:FG) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of F&G Annuities & Life (NYSE:FG) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Saturday.

FG has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of F&G Annuities & Life in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research lowered F&G Annuities & Life from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Barclays set a $31.00 price target on F&G Annuities & Life in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $32.00.

F&G Annuities & Life Stock Performance

F&G Annuities & Life stock opened at $23.89 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.24 billion, a PE ratio of 13.06 and a beta of 1.59. F&G Annuities & Life has a 1-year low of $20.57 and a 1-year high of $37.19.

F&G Annuities & Life (NYSE:FG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.34 by ($0.43). The firm had revenue of $739.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. F&G Annuities & Life had a net margin of 4.62% and a return on equity of 10.48%. As a group, analysts expect that F&G Annuities & Life will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

F&G Annuities & Life Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. F&G Annuities & Life’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.64%.

F&G Annuities & Life declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 16th that permits the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other F&G Annuities & Life news, CEO Christopher O. Blunt purchased 10,000 shares of F&G Annuities & Life stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $20.99 per share, for a total transaction of $209,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,107,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,238,616.72. The trade was a 0.91% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Celina J. Wang Doka purchased 4,760 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $20.98 per share, for a total transaction of $99,864.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 32,071 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $672,849.58. This represents a 17.43% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders purchased a total of 19,760 shares of company stock valued at $457,565 in the last 90 days. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On F&G Annuities & Life

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in shares of F&G Annuities & Life during the 4th quarter valued at $989,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in F&G Annuities & Life by 12,227.8% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 13,314 shares of the company’s stock worth $411,000 after purchasing an additional 13,206 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in F&G Annuities & Life by 40.3% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 9,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 2,593 shares during the last quarter. SHP Wealth Management purchased a new stake in F&G Annuities & Life during the fourth quarter valued at about $66,000. Finally, Hahn Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of F&G Annuities & Life during the fourth quarter valued at about $198,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.86% of the company’s stock.

About F&G Annuities & Life

F&G Annuities & Life is the principal life insurance and annuity subsidiary of F&G Financial Group, Inc (NYSE: FG), a publicly traded financial services holding company headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa. The company focuses on designing and issuing retirement income solutions that address longevity risk, capital preservation, and wealth transfer for individual and institutional clients.

Its product suite includes fixed indexed annuities, which offer the potential for market-linked growth with downside protection; fixed-rate annuities, delivering guaranteed interest over a defined term; and a range of life insurance policies such as term, universal, and variable universal life.