California Public Employees Retirement System Purchases 304,942 Shares of Globe Life Inc. (NYSE:GL)

California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its position in Globe Life Inc. (NYSE:GL) by 169.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 484,982 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 304,942 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Globe Life were worth $59,032,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Globe Life by 1.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,881,775 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,183,175,000 after acquiring an additional 181,824 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Globe Life by 4.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,247,993 shares of the company’s stock valued at $461,884,000 after acquiring an additional 168,127 shares during the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP increased its stake in Globe Life by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 2,357,839 shares of the company’s stock valued at $286,996,000 after acquiring an additional 45,227 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Globe Life by 3.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,901,013 shares of the company’s stock valued at $206,697,000 after acquiring an additional 67,753 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Equity Investment Corp increased its stake in Globe Life by 1.9% in the third quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 727,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,118,000 after acquiring an additional 13,876 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.61% of the company’s stock.

Globe Life Stock Performance

Globe Life stock opened at $75.54 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $107.65 and a 200-day moving average of $115.54. The firm has a market cap of $7.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.21 and a beta of 0.69. Globe Life Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.95 and a 1-year high of $132.00.

Globe Life (NYSE:GL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The company reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.79 by ($0.01). Globe Life had a return on equity of 23.91% and a net margin of 18.07%. The company had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.53 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Globe Life Inc. will post 11.68 EPS for the current year.

Globe Life Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. This is a positive change from Globe Life’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. Globe Life’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on GL shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Globe Life from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $130.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Globe Life from $125.00 to $75.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Globe Life from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Globe Life from $130.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Globe Life from $132.00 to $108.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $114.33.

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.