F&G Annuities & Life (NYSE:FG) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

F&G Annuities & Life, Inc. (NYSE:FG)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $22.14, but opened at $23.16. F&G Annuities & Life shares last traded at $23.9260, with a volume of 207,407 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on FG shares. Wall Street Zen cut F&G Annuities & Life from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of F&G Annuities & Life in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research downgraded F&G Annuities & Life from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Barclays set a $31.00 target price on F&G Annuities & Life in a report on Thursday, January 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.com, F&G Annuities & Life currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $32.00.

F&G Annuities & Life Stock Up 0.2%

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.95 and a beta of 1.59. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $26.16 and its 200-day moving average is $29.80.

F&G Annuities & Life (NYSE:FG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.43). F&G Annuities & Life had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 4.62%.The firm had revenue of $739.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that F&G Annuities & Life, Inc. will post 5.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

F&G Annuities & Life Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 17th. F&G Annuities & Life’s payout ratio is currently 54.64%.

F&G Annuities & Life declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, March 16th that allows the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at F&G Annuities & Life

In other F&G Annuities & Life news, Director Celina J. Wang Doka bought 4,760 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $20.98 per share, with a total value of $99,864.80. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 32,071 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $672,849.58. This represents a 17.43% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher O. Blunt purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $20.99 per share, for a total transaction of $209,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,107,128 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,238,616.72. This trade represents a 0.91% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 19,760 shares of company stock valued at $457,565. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On F&G Annuities & Life

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FG. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in F&G Annuities & Life by 85.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,807,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,470,000 after purchasing an additional 1,753,709 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in F&G Annuities & Life by 33.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,121,563 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,605,000 after purchasing an additional 280,594 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of F&G Annuities & Life by 93.6% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 847,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,144,000 after purchasing an additional 409,743 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of F&G Annuities & Life by 44.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 736,885 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,735,000 after purchasing an additional 225,817 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of F&G Annuities & Life by 870.1% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 642,313 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,085,000 after buying an additional 576,102 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.86% of the company’s stock.

F&G Annuities & Life Company 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.