F&G Annuities & Life (NYSE:FG) Trading Down 6.6% - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Shares fell 6.6% to $24.56 on Tuesday on light volume (~192,781 shares, down 74% vs. average), trading below its 50- and 200-day moving averages of $25.36 and $28.89.
• Earnings missed expectations — the company reported $0.91 EPS vs. $1.34 expected and revenue of $739 million vs. $1.55 billion expected; analysts' consensus rating is "Reduce" with a $32 target.
• Capital return and insider buying — the board approved a $100 million share repurchase plan and the stock yields $1.00 annually (4.1%), while insiders bought shares and institutional ownership is about 95.9%.

F&G Annuities & Life, Inc. (NYSE:FG - Get Free Report) shares were down 6.6% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $24.49 and last traded at $24.5610. Approximately 192,781 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 747,412 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.31.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on FG shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of F&G Annuities & Life in a report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen raised F&G Annuities & Life from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. Barclays set a $31.00 price objective on F&G Annuities & Life in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered F&G Annuities & Life from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, F&G Annuities & Life has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $32.00.

F&G Annuities & Life Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $25.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.89. 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 $3.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.39 and a beta of 1.28.

F&G Annuities & Life (NYSE:FG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $739.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that F&G Annuities & Life, Inc. will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current year.

F&G Annuities & Life Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 17th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 17th. F&G Annuities & Life's payout ratio is presently 54.64%.

F&G Annuities & Life announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Monday, March 16th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at F&G Annuities & Life

In other news, Director Celina J. Wang Doka bought 4,760 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $20.98 per share, with a total value of $99,864.80. Following 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 position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher O. Blunt bought 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $20.99 per share, with a total value of $209,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,107,128 shares in the company, valued at $23,238,616.72. This represents a 0.91% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of F&G Annuities & Life

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in F&G Annuities & Life by 85.4% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in F&G Annuities & Life by 33.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,121,563 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,605,000 after purchasing an additional 280,594 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in F&G Annuities & Life by 93.6% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 847,443 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,144,000 after purchasing an additional 409,743 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in F&G Annuities & Life by 44.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 736,885 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,735,000 after purchasing an additional 225,817 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in F&G Annuities & Life by 870.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 642,313 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,085,000 after purchasing an additional 576,102 shares during the last quarter. 95.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.

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