Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Acquires New Position in F&G Annuities & Life, Inc. $FG

Key Points

• Pictet Asset Management bought 49,680 shares (~$1.53M) of F&G in Q4, and institutional investors now hold about 95.86% of the company's stock, with several other hedge funds adding or increasing positions.
• F&G missed Q4 estimates (EPS $0.91 vs. $1.34; revenue $739M vs. $1.55B) but has a $0.25 quarterly dividend (3.5% yield), a newly authorized $100M share buyback (~3.1% of shares), and recent insider purchases by CEO Christopher Blunt and director Celina J. Wang Doka.

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA acquired a new stake in F&G Annuities & Life, Inc. (NYSE:FG - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 49,680 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,533,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of F&G Annuities & Life in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in F&G Annuities & Life by 432.6% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 932 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 757 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in F&G Annuities & Life by 83.8% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,211 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 552 shares during the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA acquired a new position in F&G Annuities & Life in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Godsey & Gibb Inc. lifted its position in F&G Annuities & Life by 84.6% in the fourth quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 1,606 shares of the company's stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 736 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.86% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on FG shares. Zacks Research cut shares of F&G Annuities & Life from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of F&G Annuities & Life in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of F&G Annuities & Life from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Barclays decreased 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 research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, F&G Annuities & Life presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $30.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Christopher O. Blunt bought 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 price of $20.99 per share, with a total value of $209,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,107,128 shares in the company, valued at $23,238,616.72. The trade was a 0.91% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Celina J. Wang Doka bought 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, for a total transaction of $99,864.80. Following the acquisition, the director owned 32,071 shares of the company's stock, valued at $672,849.58. This represents a 17.43% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

F&G Annuities & Life Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of FG opened at $28.39 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.85 billion, a PE ratio of 15.51 and a beta of 1.28. F&G Annuities & Life, Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.57 and a 1 year 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 company's 50-day simple moving average is $24.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.33.

F&G Annuities & Life (NYSE:FG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.34 by ($0.43). The business had revenue of $739.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. F&G Annuities & Life had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 4.62%.

F&G Annuities & Life Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 17th. F&G Annuities & Life's dividend payout ratio is currently 54.64%.

F&G Annuities & Life announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, March 16th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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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