StockNews.com Begins Coverage on American Equity Investment Life (NYSE:AEL)

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of American Equity Investment Life (NYSE:AEL – Get Rating) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday. The firm issued a hold rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

AEL has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Raymond James upgraded American Equity Investment Life from an outperform rating to a strong-buy rating and set a $48.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on American Equity Investment Life from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 24th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on American Equity Investment Life from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 21st. Piper Jaffray Companies cut American Equity Investment Life from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on American Equity Investment Life from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, January 6th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $45.30.

American Equity Investment Life Price Performance

Shares of American Equity Investment Life stock opened at $33.12 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $43.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.91. American Equity Investment Life has a twelve month low of $28.05 and a twelve month high of $48.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

American Equity Investment Life (NYSE:AEL – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $654.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $652.84 million. American Equity Investment Life had a return on equity of 9.84% and a net margin of 86.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 41.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.04 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that American Equity Investment Life will post 4.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Equity Investment Life

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEL. Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in American Equity Investment Life by 12.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its position in American Equity Investment Life by 14.7% in the first quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 22,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $886,000 after purchasing an additional 2,837 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its position in American Equity Investment Life by 56.1% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 44,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,768,000 after purchasing an additional 15,909 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in American Equity Investment Life by 0.4% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 13,317,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $531,512,000 after purchasing an additional 49,702 shares during the period. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can lifted its position in American Equity Investment Life by 1.9% in the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 72,804 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,985,000 after purchasing an additional 1,383 shares during the period. 94.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About American Equity Investment Life

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American Equity Investment Life Holding Co engages in the development and sale of fixed index and fixed rate annuity products. It focuses on the following portfolios: commercial mortgage loans, agricultural mortgage loans, and residential mortgage loans. The company was founded by David J. Noble on December 15, 1995 and is headquartered in West Des Moines, IA.