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FBL Financial Announces Dividend Hike, Special Dividend

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In a bid to return more value to shareholders, the board of directors of FBL Financial Group, Inc. recently approved a 4.8% hike in its quarterly dividend. The company will now pay a dividend of 44 cents per share as against 42 cents paid in Dec 2016.

Shareholders on record as of Mar 15, 2017, will have the meatier dividend in their pockets on Mar 31, 2017. The increased payout represents an annual indicated dividend rate of $1.76 per share. Based on this, FBL Financial’s indicated current dividend yield is 2.6%.

Concurrently, the board of directors of the company announced a special cash dividend of $1.50 per share. The special dividend will also be paid on Mar 31, 2017, to shareholders on record as of Mar 15, 2017. The total amount of the special cash dividend payment is projected to be about $37 million. Over the past two decades, the company has paid a special dividend of $2.00 per share, twice.

The company’s operating strength has enabled it to increase dividends each year. The company has grown its dividend at a five-year CAGR (2011–2016) of 47.8%.

FBL Financial Group has maintained a robust capital position and a solid financial foundation. Moreover, the company remains focused on returning cash to shareholders through initiatives like the ones mentioned above.

Shares of FBL Financial gained 1.89% since the release of fourth-quarter 2016 results, underperforming the Zacks categorized Multi line insurance industry’s increase of 2.18%. Nonetheless, we expect that the company’s robust premium investment income growth and solid capital position will help the stock gain momentum in the near term.



However, this Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) multi line insurer has witnessed its estimates moving south over the last 30 days. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. However, we expect these shareholder-friendly moves to induce analysts to raise estimates, leading to a rank upgrade.

Dividend hikes and share buybacks not only testify to the operational and financial strength of a company, but also make a stock attractive for yield-seeking investors. Recently, the board of directors of Torchmark Corporation approved a 7.1% hike in its quarterly dividend. Also, Argo Group International Holdings, Ltd. increased its quarterly dividend by 22.7%. Moreover, the board of directors of XL Group Ltd. increased its quarterly dividend by 10%.

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