Globe Life (NYSE:GL) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume

Shares of Globe Life Inc. (NYSE:GL) saw an uptick in trading volume on Wednesday . 1,596,375 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 20% from the previous session’s volume of 1,989,671 shares.The stock last traded at $79.25 and had previously closed at $75.76.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Globe Life from $125.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Globe Life from $130.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Globe Life from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Globe Life from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $130.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com cut Globe Life from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Globe Life currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $114.33.

Globe Life Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.05 and a quick ratio of 0.05. The company has a market cap of $7.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.73 and a beta of 0.69. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $109.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $116.08.

Globe Life (NYSE:GL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The company reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.79 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. Globe Life had a net margin of 18.07% and a return on equity of 23.91%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.53 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Globe Life Inc. will post 11.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Globe Life Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. This is an increase from Globe Life’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. Globe Life’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.17%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Globe Life

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GL. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Globe Life in the 4th quarter worth about $123,682,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Globe Life by 1,367.8% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 362,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,128,000 after purchasing an additional 337,836 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in Globe Life by 169.4% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 484,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,032,000 after acquiring an additional 304,942 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its holdings in Globe Life by 141.4% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 466,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,766,000 after acquiring an additional 273,515 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC bought a new position in Globe Life in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,560,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.61% of the company’s stock.

About Globe Life

Globe Life Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides various life and supplemental health insurance products, and annuities to lower middle- and middle-income families in the United States. The company operates in four segments: Life Insurance, Supplemental Health Insurance, Annuities, and Investments.