F&G Annuities & Life (NYSE:FG) Downgraded by Zacks Research to “Strong Sell”

Zacks Research lowered shares of F&G Annuities & Life (NYSE:FG) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research report released on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on FG. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of F&G Annuities & Life in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Barclays set a $31.00 price objective on F&G Annuities & Life in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered F&G Annuities & Life from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $32.00.

F&G Annuities & Life Stock Down 2.6%

FG opened at $22.70 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $28.89 and a 200-day moving average of $31.12. The company has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.41 and a beta of 1.46. F&G Annuities & Life has a fifty-two week low of $22.55 and a fifty-two week high of $43.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27.

F&G Annuities & Life (NYSE:FG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.43). The business had revenue of $739.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. F&G Annuities & Life had a return on equity of 10.62% and a net margin of 4.62%. On average, equities analysts expect that F&G Annuities & Life will post 5.54 EPS for the current year.

F&G Annuities & Life Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 17th. F&G Annuities & Life’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.64%.

Insider Activity

In other F&G Annuities & Life news, CEO Christopher O. Blunt purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $29.56 per share, for a total transaction of $147,800.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 1,117,396 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,030,225.76. This trade represents a 0.45% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of F&G Annuities & Life

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in F&G Annuities & Life during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in F&G Annuities & Life by 29,066.7% during the 4th 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. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in F&G Annuities & Life by 474.5% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 745 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in shares of F&G Annuities & Life by 36,166.7% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,088 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 1,085 shares during the last quarter. 95.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.