Cooke & Bieler LP Invests $9.60 Million in F&G Annuities & Life, Inc. $FG

Key Points

• Cooke & Bieler LP initiated a new stake in F&G Annuities & Life, buying 311,043 shares valued at about $9.6 million in the fourth quarter, giving it roughly 0.23% ownership.
• Wall Street sentiment is mostly cautious: multiple analysts currently rate the stock Hold, and the consensus price target is about $30 after Barclays trimmed its target to $27.
• The company recently reported mixed quarterly results, with earnings per share of $0.82 missing estimates but revenue of $2.25 billion beating expectations; it also announced a $0.25 quarterly dividend and a new $100 million share buyback program.

Cooke & Bieler LP bought a new position in shares of F&G Annuities & Life, Inc. (NYSE:FG - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 311,043 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,596,000. Cooke & Bieler LP owned approximately 0.23% of F&G Annuities & Life at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of F&G Annuities & Life in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of F&G Annuities & Life by 29,066.7% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 875 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 872 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in F&G Annuities & Life by 432.6% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 932 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 757 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in shares of F&G Annuities & Life by 276.0% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,173 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 861 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of F&G Annuities & Life by 83.8% during the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,211 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 552 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.86% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of F&G Annuities & Life to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on F&G Annuities & Life in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of F&G Annuities & Life from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, May 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of F&G Annuities & Life in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, 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 research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $30.00.

F&G Annuities & Life Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of FG stock opened at $27.79 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.29 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29. F&G Annuities & Life, Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.57 and a 52-week high of $36.70. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $26.31 and a 200-day moving average of $28.20.

F&G Annuities & Life (NYSE:FG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.08). F&G Annuities & Life had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 10.73%. The company had revenue of $2.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.46 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that F&G Annuities & Life, Inc. will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

F&G Annuities & Life Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be paid 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 3.6%. F&G Annuities & Life's payout ratio is currently 26.25%.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Christopher O. Blunt bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $20.99 per share, with a total value of $209,900.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 1,107,128 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,238,616.72. This represents a 0.91% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Celina J. Wang Doka bought 4,760 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $20.98 per share, with a total value of $99,864.80. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 32,071 shares in the company, valued at approximately $672,849.58. This trade represents a 17.43% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

F&G Annuities & Life 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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