F&G Annuities & Life (NYSE:FG) Upgraded to Hold at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of F&G Annuities & Life (NYSE:FG) to a hold rating in a research report released on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on FG. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of F&G Annuities & Life in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Barclays reduced their price target on F&G Annuities & Life from $31.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on F&G Annuities & Life in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised F&G Annuities & Life from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, F&G Annuities & Life currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.00.

F&G Annuities & Life Stock Up 4.4%

F&G Annuities & Life stock opened at $28.28 on Thursday. F&G Annuities & Life has a twelve month low of $20.57 and a twelve month high of $36.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $25.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.33. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.42 and a beta of 1.28.

F&G Annuities & Life (NYSE:FG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.08). F&G Annuities & Life had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 8.89%.The company had revenue of $2.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that F&G Annuities & Life will post 3.8 earnings per share for the current year.

F&G Annuities & Life declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, March 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

F&G Annuities & Life Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. F&G Annuities & Life’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.25%.

Insider Transactions at F&G Annuities & Life

In other news, Director Celina J. Wang Doka acquired 4,760 shares of F&G Annuities & Life stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $20.98 per share, with a total value of $99,864.80. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 32,071 shares in the company, valued at $672,849.58. This trade represents a 17.43% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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, with a total value of $209,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 1,107,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,238,616.72. The trade was a 0.91% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On F&G Annuities & Life

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FG. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in F&G Annuities & Life by 85.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,807,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,470,000 after purchasing an additional 1,753,709 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in F&G Annuities & Life by 870.1% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 642,313 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,085,000 after purchasing an additional 576,102 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in F&G Annuities & Life during the fourth quarter worth $14,568,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 409,743 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in F&G Annuities & Life by 445.3% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 465,295 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,354,000 after purchasing an additional 379,970 shares during the last quarter. 95.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

F&G Annuities & Life Company Profile

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.