American Equity Investment Life Holding (NYSE:AEL) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest
American Equity Investment Life Holding (NYSE:AEL – Get Rating) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,300,000 shares, a growth of 40.6% from the April 30th total of 924,800 shares. Currently, 1.4% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 581,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days.
A number of research firms recently weighed in on AEL. StockNews.com lowered American Equity Investment Life from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on American Equity Investment Life from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 22nd. Finally, Zacks Investment Research upgraded American Equity Investment Life from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $37.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Equity Investment Life currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $42.18.
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In other American Equity Investment Life news, Director Joyce Ann Chapman sold 3,856 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.26, for a total transaction of $147,530.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Ronald James Grensteiner sold 9,188 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.31, for a total value of $351,992.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 89,039 shares in the company, valued at $3,411,084.09. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,007 shares of company stock worth $1,112,023 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.
A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Icon Advisers Inc. Co. acquired a new stake in American Equity Investment Life in the first quarter valued at about $5,883,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Equity Investment Life during the first quarter valued at about $217,000. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Equity Investment Life during the first quarter valued at about $3,019,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of American Equity Investment Life during the first quarter valued at about $105,000. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of American Equity Investment Life during the first quarter valued at about $239,000. 95.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
AEL opened at $41.35 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.10. American Equity Investment Life has a 52-week low of $27.12 and a 52-week high of $44.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a current ratio of 0.17. The business’s fifty day moving average is $38.31 and its 200-day moving average is $38.66.
American Equity Investment Life (NYSE:AEL – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 4th. The financial services provider reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.95 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $147.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $612.85 million. American Equity Investment Life had a return on equity of 7.26% and a net margin of 26.35%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 84.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.43 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that American Equity Investment Life will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
American Equity Investment Life Company Profile (Get Rating)
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.
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