Aegon Ltd. (NYSE:AEG) Short Interest Update

Aegon Ltd. (NYSE:AEG) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,880,000 shares, an increase of 26.5% from the April 30th total of 7,020,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 11,850,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.7 days. Currently, 0.6% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aegon

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Aegon by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,413,607 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,886,000 after buying an additional 298,679 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Aegon by 13.8% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,801,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,639,000 after purchasing an additional 582,622 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its position in Aegon by 0.8% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 2,634,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,358,000 after purchasing an additional 20,015 shares during the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Aegon by 27.6% in the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 1,895,842 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,167,000 after purchasing an additional 409,694 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Aegon by 2.3% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,452,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,569,000 after purchasing an additional 32,181 shares during the last quarter. 4.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Aegon Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AEG opened at $7.14 on Thursday. Aegon has a 1-year low of $5.42 and a 1-year high of $7.32. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $6.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $6.38. The company has a market capitalization of $15.74 billion, a PE ratio of 7.44 and a beta of 0.91.

Aegon announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Friday, May 16th that allows the company to repurchase 0 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Aegon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a $0.1992 dividend. This represents a yield of 5.3%. This is an increase from Aegon’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. Aegon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Aegon from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. BNP Paribas upgraded Aegon from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Aegon from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th.

Aegon Company Profile

Aegon Ltd. provides insurance, pensions, retirement, and asset management services in the United States, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company offers life, accident, property and casualty, and health insurance; annuities, retirement plans, mutual funds, and stable value solutions; residential mortgage and digital baking services; and retail and institutional investment management solutions and retirement savings vehicles and strategies.