American Equity Investment Life (NYSE:AEL) Hits New 52-Week High at $56.41

American Equity Investment Life Holding (NYSE:AEL - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $56.41 and last traded at $56.34, with a volume of 42647 shares. The stock had previously closed at $56.25.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on AEL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on American Equity Investment Life from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of American Equity Investment Life in a research note on Monday, March 11th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $52.50.

American Equity Investment Life Trading Down 0.4 %

The stock has a market cap of $4.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.20 and a beta of 0.80. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $55.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.34.

American Equity Investment Life (NYSE:AEL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.99 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.24. American Equity Investment Life had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 25.15%. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $673.53 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 61.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that American Equity Investment Life Holding will post 7.11 EPS for the current year.

American Equity Investment Life Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 29th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.68%. This is an increase from American Equity Investment Life's previous annual dividend of $0.02. American Equity Investment Life's payout ratio is currently 17.76%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AEL. AlphaMark Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of American Equity Investment Life by 20.3% during the 1st quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 5,456 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 921 shares during the last quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda increased its position in American Equity Investment Life by 300.8% during the fourth quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda now owns 4,140 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $231,000 after buying an additional 3,107 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in American Equity Investment Life by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,636,001 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $481,889,000 after buying an additional 345,911 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Equity Investment Life by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 955,925 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $53,341,000 after acquiring an additional 111,815 shares during the period. Finally, Glazer Capital LLC bought a new stake in American Equity Investment Life in the 4th quarter valued at $7,924,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.98% of the company's stock.

American Equity Investment Life Company Profile

American Equity Investment Life Holding Company, through its subsidiaries, provides life insurance products in the United States. The company issues fixed index and rate annuities, as well as single premium immediate annuities. It markets its products through independent agents, including independent marketing organizations, broker/dealers, banks, and registered investment advisors.