F&G Annuities & Life (NYSE:FG) Trading Down 6.6% – Should You Sell?

Shares of F&G Annuities & Life, Inc. (NYSE:FG) were down 6.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $24.49 and last traded at $24.5610. Approximately 192,781 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 747,412 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.31.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on FG shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of F&G Annuities & Life in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research downgraded F&G Annuities & Life from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded F&G Annuities & Life from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays set a $31.00 price target on F&G Annuities & Life in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $32.00.

F&G Annuities & Life Price Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average price of $25.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.89. The stock has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a PE ratio of 13.39 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.26.

F&G Annuities & Life (NYSE:FG) last announced 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 business had revenue of $739.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. Research analysts expect that F&G Annuities & Life, Inc. will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

F&G Annuities & Life Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 17th. F&G Annuities & Life’s payout ratio is presently 54.64%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On F&G Annuities & Life

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FG. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in F&G Annuities & Life by 85.4% in the fourth 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. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in F&G Annuities & Life by 870.1% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 642,313 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,085,000 after purchasing an additional 576,102 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in F&G Annuities & Life in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $14,568,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in F&G Annuities & Life by 93.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 847,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,144,000 after purchasing an additional 409,743 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in F&G Annuities & Life by 445.3% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 465,295 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,354,000 after purchasing an additional 379,970 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.