F&G Annuities & Life, Inc. $FG Shares Bought by Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp

Key Points

• Institutional investors increased exposure to F&G Annuities & Life in the latest quarter, with Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp boosting its stake by 88.2%. Other major holders like Vanguard, Geode Capital, and Ameriprise also added shares, and institutions now own 95.86% of the company.
• Analysts remain cautious on FG, with multiple firms issuing Hold-equivalent views and Barclays cutting its price target from $31 to $27. The stock currently carries an average Hold rating and a consensus price target of $30.
• The company reported mixed fundamentals in its latest quarter, missing EPS estimates at $0.82 versus $0.90 expected, but beating revenue expectations with $2.25 billion in sales. FG also announced a $0.25 quarterly dividend and a new $100 million share repurchase authorization.

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp raised its position in F&G Annuities & Life, Inc. (NYSE:FG - Free Report) by 88.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 149,384 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 70,026 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp owned approximately 0.11% of F&G Annuities & Life worth $4,609,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,753,709 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in F&G Annuities & Life by 12.6% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 840,969 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,299,000 after acquiring an additional 94,394 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in F&G Annuities & Life by 44.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 736,885 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,735,000 after acquiring an additional 225,817 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in F&G Annuities & Life by 870.1% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 642,313 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,085,000 after acquiring an additional 576,102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in F&G Annuities & Life in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $14,568,000. 95.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of F&G Annuities & Life from $31.00 to $27.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of F&G Annuities & Life in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of F&G Annuities & Life to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of F&G Annuities & Life in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Finally, 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $30.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at F&G Annuities & Life

In related news, Director Celina J. Wang Doka acquired 4,760 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $20.98 per share, for a total transaction of $99,864.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the director 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 is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher O. Blunt acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $20.99 per share, with a total value of $209,900.00. Following the completion of 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. Insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

F&G Annuities & Life Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE:FG opened at $27.53 on Wednesday. F&G Annuities & Life, Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.57 and a 12 month high of $36.70. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market capitalization of $3.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.23 and a beta of 1.22.

F&G Annuities & Life (NYSE:FG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.08). F&G Annuities & Life had a return on equity of 10.73% 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. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that F&G Annuities & Life, Inc. will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current year.

F&G Annuities & Life Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 16th. F&G Annuities & Life's payout ratio is presently 26.25%.

F&G Annuities & Life declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, March 16th that allows the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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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