American Equity (AEL) Q3 Earnings & Revenues Beat Estimates
American Equity Investment Life Holding Company AEL reported third-quarter 2021 adjusted net earnings of $1.46 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 89.6%. The bottom line increased 47.5% on a year-over-year basis.
Net income was $1.53 per share, down 78.7% from the year-ago quarter.
The company witnessed an increase in sales and higher premiums, partially offset by weak net investment income and higher expenses during the quarter.
American Equity Investment Life Holding Company Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
American Equity Investment Life Holding Company price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | American Equity Investment Life Holding Company Quote
Operational Update
Operating total revenues were $526 million, down 3.1% year over year. The top line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.6%.
Premiums and other considerations increased 52.2% year over year to $15.8 million. Annuity product charges decreased 6.1% year over year to $58.5 million. Net investment income declined about 3.1% to $526.4 million, all on a year-over-year basis.
Gross sales of $1.3 billion increased more than two-fold year over year. Sequentially, Annuity sales increased 11%, driven by sales of fixed index annuities at American Equity Life, which increased 4%, while Eagle Life sales of fixed index annuities rose 2%.
Total expenses were $345 million against benefits of $53 million in the year-ago quarter.
The investment spread was 2.4%, down from 2.44% in the year-ago quarter.
Policyholder funds under management of $52.9 billion at quarter-end were up 1.1% from second-quarter end.
Financial Update
Cash and cash equivalents were $12.7 billion as of Sep 30, 2021, up 39.5% from the 2020-end level. Total investments were about $52.3 billion, down 2.4% from the 2020-end level.
Notes payable totaled $496.1 million, up 0.08% from the 2020-end level.
Book value per common share excluding AOCI was $40.19, up 11.7% from 2020 end.
Total debt/total capitalization was 11.6% at third-quarter end, improving 60 basis points from the level at 2020 end.
Operating return on equity excluding average AOCI was 8.2%.
Zacks Rank
American Equity currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Performance of Other Life Insurers
Of the insurance industry players that have reported third-quarter results so far, Brighthouse Financial Inc. BHF and Athene Holding Ltd. ATH beat the respective Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings, while Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated RGA missed the same.
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