In the latest trading session, American Equity Investment (AEL) closed at $15.49, marking a +0.85% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 6% gain on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 5.2%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 6.23%.
Heading into today, shares of the annuity and insurance underwriter had lost 54.18% over the past month, lagging the Finance sector's loss of 33.35% and the S&P 500's loss of 29.18% in that time.
AEL will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect AEL to post earnings of $1.20 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 23.71%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $597.21 million, up 6.94% from the year-ago period.
AEL's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $4.89 per share and revenue of $2.35 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of -18.09% and +1.9%, respectively.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for AEL. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 5.39% higher. AEL is holding a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) right now.
In terms of valuation, AEL is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 3.14. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 5.94, which means AEL is trading at a discount to the group.
The Insurance - Life Insurance industry is part of the Finance sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 58, which puts it in the top 23% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Make sure to utilize Zacks. Com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.
American Equity Investment Life Holding Company (AEL): Free Stock Analysis Report
Original post
Zacks Investment Research