FBL Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:FFG) Downgraded to “Hold” at Zacks Investment Research

FBL Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:FFG) was downgraded by Zacks Investment Research from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

According to Zacks, “FBL FINANCIAL GROUP, INC. is a holding company and hrough its subsidiaries underwrites, markets and distributes life insurance, annuities, property-casualty insurance and mutual funds to individuals and small businesses in 15 midwestern and western states. The Company has exclusive marketing arrangements with the state Farm Bureau Federations in its territory and targets sales to approximately 700,000 Farm Bureau member families and other rural, small town andsuburban residents through an exclusive agency force. The Company offers a full range of life insurance products. “

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. BidaskClub upgraded FBL Financial Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 13th. Raymond James Financial, Inc. upgraded FBL Financial Group from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 9th.

Shares of FBL Financial Group (NYSE:FFG) traded up 2.37% during trading on Monday, reaching $71.40. 41,831 shares of the company’s stock traded hands. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.78 billion, a PE ratio of 15.49 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $66.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.04. FBL Financial Group has a 1-year low of $59.75 and a 1-year high of $82.60.

FBL Financial Group (NYSE:FFG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 3rd. The financial services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.19. FBL Financial Group had a return on equity of 9.12% and a net margin of 15.70%. The company had revenue of $189 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $181.63 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.02 EPS. FBL Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that FBL Financial Group will post $4.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

In other news, Director Scott Vanderwal sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.46, for a total value of $140,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $281,840. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA increased its stake in shares of FBL Financial Group by 134.7% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA now owns 2,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $127,000 after buying an additional 1,187 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in FBL Financial Group by 34.5% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,417 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $272,000 after buying an additional 1,134 shares in the last quarter. Eqis Capital Management Inc. raised its position in FBL Financial Group by 7.1% in the first quarter. Eqis Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $275,000 after buying an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its position in FBL Financial Group by 10.8% in the second quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 6,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $388,000 after buying an additional 617 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American International Group Inc. raised its position in FBL Financial Group by 7.2% in the first quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 6,063 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $397,000 after buying an additional 408 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 29.41% of the company’s stock.

About FBL Financial Group

FBL Financial Group, Inc sells individual life insurance and annuity products under the brand name of Farm Bureau Financial Services. The Company’s segments are Annuity Segment, which sells a variety of traditional annuity products; Life Insurance Segment, which sells a range of traditional and universal life insurance products, and Corporate and Other segment, which provides various support operations, corporate capital and other product lines.