BMO Capital Markets Initiates Coverage on Globe Life (NYSE:GL)

BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Globe Life (NYSE:GL) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The firm issued a market perform rating and a $114.00 target price on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on GL. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Globe Life from $160.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Globe Life from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Evercore ISI upgraded Globe Life from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $132.00 to $143.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. TD Cowen started coverage on Globe Life in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $150.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Globe Life from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $132.18.

Globe Life Stock Performance

Shares of GL stock opened at $118.34 on Thursday. Globe Life has a 12-month low of $38.95 and a 12-month high of $132.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.05 and a quick ratio of 0.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.01 and a beta of 0.80. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $110.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $104.13.

Globe Life (NYSE:GL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.43. Globe Life had a return on equity of 22.91% and a net margin of 19.04%. The company had revenue of $1.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.71 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Globe Life will post 12.32 EPS for the current year.

Globe Life Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 6th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 6th. Globe Life’s payout ratio is 8.12%.

Insider Activity at Globe Life

In other news, CMO Jennifer Allison Haworth sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.91, for a total value of $1,016,190.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 13,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,522,591.35. This represents a 40.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Frank M. Svoboda sold 13,448 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.56, for a total transaction of $1,513,706.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 18,948 shares in the company, valued at $2,132,786.88. The trade was a 41.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 39,788 shares of company stock worth $4,429,779. 1.51% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Globe Life

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GL. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its holdings in Globe Life by 88.4% in the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 599 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Globe Life by 105.5% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 15,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,234,000 after purchasing an additional 7,700 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Globe Life by 48.4% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 26,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,210,000 after purchasing an additional 8,758 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in Globe Life by 5.6% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 14,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,175,000 after purchasing an additional 757 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can acquired a new position in Globe Life during the second quarter worth $6,752,000. 81.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Globe Life Company Profile

Globe Life Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides various life and supplemental health insurance products, and annuities to lower middle- and middle-income families in the United States. The company operates in four segments: Life Insurance, Supplemental Health Insurance, Annuities, and Investments.