F&G Annuities & Life (NYSE:FG) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

F&G Annuities & Life, Inc. (NYSE:FG)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $22.14, but opened at $23.16. F&G Annuities & Life shares last traded at $23.9260, with a volume of 207,407 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on FG shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of F&G Annuities & Life from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of F&G Annuities & Life in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research downgraded 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 objective on shares of F&G Annuities & Life in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $32.00.

F&G Annuities & Life Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.26 and a quick ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a PE ratio of 12.94 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $26.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.92.

F&G Annuities & Life (NYSE:FG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.43). F&G Annuities & Life had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 4.62%.The company had revenue of $739.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that F&G Annuities & Life, Inc. will post 5.54 EPS for the current year.

F&G Annuities & Life Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Celina J. Wang Doka acquired 4,760 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $20.98 per share, with a total value of $99,864.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 32,071 shares in the company, valued at approximately $672,849.58. This represents a 17.43% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher O. Blunt acquired 10,000 shares of F&G Annuities & Life stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $20.99 per share, for a total transaction of $209,900.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,107,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,238,616.72. This trade represents a 0.91% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders bought 19,760 shares of company stock valued at $457,565. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On F&G Annuities & Life

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of F&G Annuities & Life by 85.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,807,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,470,000 after purchasing an additional 1,753,709 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in F&G Annuities & Life by 33.4% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,121,563 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,605,000 after buying an additional 280,594 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in F&G Annuities & Life by 93.6% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 847,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,144,000 after buying an additional 409,743 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in F&G Annuities & Life by 44.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 736,885 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,735,000 after buying an additional 225,817 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in F&G Annuities & Life by 870.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 642,313 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,085,000 after buying an additional 576,102 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.