National Bank of Canada FI Grows Holdings in Globe Life Inc. (NYSE:GL)

National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of Globe Life Inc. (NYSE:GL) by 78.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,091 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,872 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Globe Life were worth $5,809,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Globe Life by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,117,122 shares of the company’s stock valued at $570,661,000 after buying an additional 326,307 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Globe Life by 3.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,545,272 shares of the company’s stock valued at $375,480,000 after purchasing an additional 115,432 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Globe Life by 3.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,618,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $276,994,000 after purchasing an additional 89,299 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Globe Life by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,284,322 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,228,000 after purchasing an additional 36,051 shares during the period. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC raised its position in Globe Life by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,234,069 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,623,000 after purchasing an additional 95,091 shares in the last quarter. 81.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Globe Life

In other Globe Life news, CEO Frank M. Svoboda sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.31, for a total transaction of $1,345,410.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 18,948 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,317,529.88. This trade represents a 36.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James Matthew Darden sold 24,890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.52, for a total transaction of $3,024,632.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 38,973 shares in the company, valued at $4,735,998.96. This trade represents a 38.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.51% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Globe Life Stock Down 8.0 %

Shares of GL stock opened at $117.30 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $124.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $114.82. Globe Life Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.95 and a 1-year high of $133.76. The company has a market cap of $9.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.82 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.05 and a quick ratio of 0.05.

Globe Life (NYSE:GL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $3.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.12 by $0.02. Globe Life had a net margin of 18.53% and a return on equity of 22.32%. On average, research analysts expect that Globe Life Inc. will post 13.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Globe Life Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This is a positive change from Globe Life’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Globe Life’s payout ratio is 9.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Globe Life from $137.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Globe Life in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $114.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Globe Life from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $132.00 to $143.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Globe Life from $140.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Globe Life from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Globe Life presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.45.

About Globe Life

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.