American Equity Investment Life Holding (NYSE:AEL) Receives $50.00 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of American Equity Investment Life Holding (NYSE:AEL) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the five research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $50.00.

AEL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of American Equity Investment Life in a research report on Monday, March 11th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of American Equity Investment Life from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th.

American Equity Investment Life Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE:AEL opened at $56.32 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.32 and a beta of 0.80. American Equity Investment Life has a 1-year low of $36.39 and a 1-year high of $56.40. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $55.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.34.

American Equity Investment Life (NYSE:AEL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.24. American Equity Investment Life had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 25.15%. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $673.53 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 61.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that American Equity Investment Life will post 7.11 EPS for the current year.

American Equity Investment Life Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 29th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a yield of 0.68%. This is an increase from American Equity Investment Life’s previous annual dividend of $0.02.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Equity Investment Life by 12.7% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 72,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,890,000 after buying an additional 8,175 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its position in shares of American Equity Investment Life by 14.7% during the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 22,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $886,000 after buying an additional 2,837 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of American Equity Investment Life by 56.1% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 44,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,768,000 after buying an additional 15,909 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Equity Investment Life by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 13,317,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $531,512,000 after buying an additional 49,702 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can lifted its position in shares of American Equity Investment Life by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 72,804 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,985,000 after buying an additional 1,383 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.98% of the company’s stock.

American Equity Investment Life Company Profile

American Equity Investment Life Holding Company, through its subsidiaries, provides life insurance products in the United States. The company issues fixed index and rate annuities, as well as single premium immediate annuities. It markets its products through independent agents, including independent marketing organizations, broker/dealers, banks, and registered investment advisors.