F&G Annuities & Life (NYSE:FG) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded F&G Annuities & Life from buy to hold, adding to a broadly cautious analyst view on the stock. The current consensus from MarketBeat is also Hold with a price target of $30.00.
• The company’s latest quarterly results were mixed: EPS of $0.82 missed expectations of $0.90, but revenue of $2.25 billion came in well above the $1.46 billion estimate. Shares were trading up 4.4% at $28.28 in the article.
• F&G also announced a $100 million share buyback, and top executives recently bought stock, including the CEO and a director. Institutional ownership is very high, with hedge funds and other investors holding 95.86% of shares.

F&G Annuities & Life (NYSE:FG - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on FG. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of F&G Annuities & Life in a report on Friday, March 27th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of F&G Annuities & Life from $31.00 to $27.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Zacks Research upgraded F&G Annuities & Life to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James Financial started coverage on F&G Annuities & Life in a research report on Wednesday. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $30.00.

F&G Annuities & Life Trading Up 4.4%

Shares of FG stock opened at $28.28 on Friday. F&G Annuities & Life has a 52-week low of $20.57 and a 52-week high of $36.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.76 billion, a PE ratio of 7.42 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.33.

F&G Annuities & Life (NYSE:FG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $2.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.46 billion. On average, analysts predict that F&G Annuities & Life will post 3.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

F&G Annuities & Life declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Monday, March 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other F&G Annuities & Life news, Director Celina J. Wang Doka bought 4,760 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $20.98 per share, for a total transaction of $99,864.80. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher O. Blunt bought 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $20.99 per share, with a total value of $209,900.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of FG. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $117,470,000 after buying an additional 1,753,709 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of F&G Annuities & Life by 870.1% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 642,313 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,085,000 after buying an additional 576,102 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of F&G Annuities & Life during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $14,568,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of F&G Annuities & Life by 93.6% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 847,443 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,144,000 after buying an additional 409,743 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $14,354,000 after buying an additional 379,970 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.86% of the company's stock.

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.

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