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GL Stock Near 52-Week High: A Signal for Investors to Hold Tight?

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Key Takeaways

  • Globe Life revenue gains are driven by life and health premiums plus investment income.
  • GL expects 2026 sales growth across American Income, Liberty National and Family Heritage.
  • Globe Life's liquidity and capital strength support buybacks and eight years of dividend hikes.

Shares of Globe Life Inc. (GL - Free Report) closed at $151.08 on Friday, near its 52-week high of $156.69. This proximity underscores investor confidence. It has the ingredients for further price appreciation. The stock is trading above the 50-day and 200-day simple moving averages (SMA) of $145.42 and $140.34, respectively, indicating solid upward momentum. SMA is a widely used technical analysis tool to predict future price trends by analyzing historical price data.

Earnings of Globe Life grew 16.1% in the last five years, better than the industry average of 0.6%. GL has a solid surprise history. The stock has a solid track record of beating earnings estimates in two of the last four quarters while missing in the other two, with an average being 1.06%.

Zacks Investment Research
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GL is an Outperformer

Shares of Globe Life have gained 25.1% in the past year, outperforming its industry and the Finance sector’s growth of 6.1% and 12.2%, respectively. 

GL has outperformed its peers, Aflac Incorporated (AFL - Free Report) and Unum Group (UNM - Free Report) , which have risen 7.2% and 0.1%, respectively, in the past year, while AMERISAFE, Inc. (AMSF - Free Report) has lost 35.9%.

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Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

GL Shares are Affordable

Globe Life shares are trading at a discount compared to the industry. Its forward price-to-earnings multiple of 9.53X is lower than the industry average of 12.65X, the Finance sector’s 15.79X and the Zacks S&P 500 Composite’s 22.16X. Also, it has a Value Score of A.

GL’s Growth Projection Encourages

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Globe Life’s 2026 earnings per share indicates a year-over-year increase of 6.2%. The consensus estimate for revenues is pegged at $6.41 billion, implying a year-over-year improvement of 6.3%. 

The consensus estimate for 2027 earnings per share and revenues indicates an increase of 7.8% and 6.1%, respectively, from the corresponding 2026 estimates.

Target Price Reflects Potential Upside

Based on short-term price targets offered by 13 analysts, the Zacks average price target is $173.23 per share. The average indicates a potential 13.6% upside from the last closing price.

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Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

GL’s Return on Capital

GL’s trailing 12-month return on equity is 20.9%, ahead of the industry average of 13.8%. Return on equity, a profitability measure, reflects how effectively a company is utilizing its shareholders’ equity. 

Also, the return on invested capital (ROIC) in the trailing 12 months was 12.5%, better than the industry average of 6.6%. Its ROIC has been increasing over the last few quarters amid capital investment made over the same time frame. This reflects the company’s efficiency in utilizing funds to generate income.

Key Points to Note for Globe Life

Globe Life has been witnessing a positive trend in revenues, driven by premium growth in its Life Insurance and Health Insurance segments and net investment income. 

The strong performance of the American Income and Liberty National divisions should drive the top line in the future. Liberty National is likely to continue to benefit from improved productivity and agent count. GL’s expansion initiatives to capture heavily populated and less penetrated areas should drive growth in the future. 

Globe Life expects net life sales of mid-single-digit growth at American Income, low double-digit growth at Liberty National, and low single-digit growth at direct-to-consumer in 2026. The company expects Net health sales of mid-single-digit growth for Liberty National and low double-digit growth for Family Heritage in 2026. For United American, the company is currently projecting high-teens growth for 2026.

Moreover, net investment income continues to be another important driver of the company’s top-line growth and has been exhibiting improvement over the last few years. The metric is likely to keep growing, riding on improved invested assets and higher interest rates on new investments.

The company has maintained a strong liquidity position with sufficient cash-generation capabilities. Its operations comprise writing basic protection life and supplemental health insurance policies, which generate strong and stable cash flows. For 2025, Globe Life has targeted a consolidated Company Action Level RBC ratio of 300% to 320%.

A strong capital position enables Globe Life to enhance its shareholder value via share buybacks and dividend payouts. The insurer has continuously been increasing its dividend over the past eight years (2017-2024), witnessing a CAGR of 7%.

Conclusion

Globe Life’s higher life and health sales, improved invested assets, increased productivity and agent count, strong liquidity position and effective capital deployment make it an attractive stock. 

Globe Life has a VGM Score of A. The VGM Score helps identify stocks with the most attractive value, best growth and the most promising momentum.

Higher return on capital, impressive dividend history, and solid growth projections should continue to benefit the insurer over the long term. The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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