Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. Takes $619,000 Position in F&G Annuities & Life, Inc. $FG

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in F&G Annuities & Life, Inc. (NYSE:FG) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 20,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $619,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in F&G Annuities & Life by 85.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in F&G Annuities & Life by 870.1% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 642,313 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,085,000 after acquiring an additional 576,102 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in F&G Annuities & Life during the fourth quarter worth $14,568,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in F&G Annuities & Life by 93.6% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 847,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,144,000 after acquiring an additional 409,743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC bought a new position in F&G Annuities & Life during the fourth quarter worth $11,312,000. 95.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

F&G Annuities & Life Stock Performance

FG opened at $28.89 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $27.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.86. F&G Annuities & Life, Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.57 and a 1-year high of $36.70. The company has a market cap of $3.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.58 and a beta of 1.22.

F&G Annuities & Life (NYSE:FG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.82 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. On average, analysts expect that F&G Annuities & Life, Inc. will post 3.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

F&G Annuities & Life Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of F&G Annuities & Life in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of F&G Annuities & Life in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of F&G Annuities & Life to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of F&G Annuities & Life from $31.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of F&G Annuities & Life from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, F&G Annuities & Life has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.00.

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.