F&G Annuities & Life (NYSE:FG) Upgraded to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

F&G Annuities & Life (NYSE:FG) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Saturday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of F&G Annuities & Life from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Barclays set a $31.00 price objective on shares of F&G Annuities & Life in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of F&G Annuities & Life in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.00.

F&G Annuities & Life Price Performance

FG stock opened at $28.41 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.33 and a beta of 1.46. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.56. F&G Annuities & Life has a 52-week low of $26.45 and a 52-week high of $47.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

F&G Annuities & Life (NYSE:FG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $737.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. F&G Annuities & Life had a return on equity of 11.41% and a net margin of 8.40%. Equities research analysts expect that F&G Annuities & Life will post 5.54 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Christopher O. Blunt purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $29.56 per share, for a total transaction of $147,800.00. Following the acquisition, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On F&G Annuities & Life

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FG. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,753,709 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in F&G Annuities & Life by 12.6% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 840,969 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,299,000 after acquiring an additional 94,394 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 576,102 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of F&G Annuities & Life by 12.6% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 509,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,286,000 after purchasing an additional 57,032 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of F&G Annuities & Life in the fourth quarter valued at $11,312,000. 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.