F&G Annuities & Life (NYSE:FG) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

F&G Annuities & Life, Inc. (NYSE:FG)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $28.09, but opened at $29.67. F&G Annuities & Life shares last traded at $29.6770, with a volume of 223,912 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on FG. Wall Street Zen cut F&G Annuities & Life from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday. Zacks Research upgraded F&G Annuities & Life to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of F&G Annuities & Life in a report on Friday, March 27th. Raymond James Financial began coverage on F&G Annuities & Life in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of F&G Annuities & Life from $31.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.00.

F&G Annuities & Life Stock Up 2.3%

The company has a market cap of $3.81 billion, a PE ratio of 7.57 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $25.42 and a 200-day moving average of $28.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

F&G Annuities & Life (NYSE:FG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.08). F&G Annuities & Life had a return on equity of 10.73% and a net margin of 8.89%.The business had revenue of $2.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that F&G Annuities & Life, Inc. will post 3.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

F&G Annuities & Life Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 16th. F&G Annuities & Life’s dividend payout ratio is 26.25%.

F&G Annuities & Life announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, March 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at F&G Annuities & Life

In related news, Director Celina J. Wang Doka purchased 4,760 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $672,849.58. This represents a 17.43% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher O. Blunt bought 10,000 shares of F&G Annuities & Life stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost 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 ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On F&G Annuities & Life

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 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 worth $117,470,000 after acquiring an additional 1,753,709 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew 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 worth $20,085,000 after purchasing an additional 576,102 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in F&G Annuities & Life in the fourth quarter worth $14,568,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings 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 worth $26,144,000 after purchasing an additional 409,743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $14,354,000 after purchasing an additional 379,970 shares in the last quarter. 95.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.