Aegon (AEG) Wraps Up EUR 1.535B Planned Share Repurchase

Zacks Equity Research
·3-min read

Aegon Ltd. AEG recently announced that it has completed a EUR 1.535 billion share repurchase program, buying 301 million shares between Jul 6, 2023, and Jun 28, 2024. The average price for the repurchase was EUR 5.0966 per share.

Of the total amount, EUR 1.5 billion buyback, announced on Jul 6, 2023, is linked to the a.s.r. combination. The company will cancel all these repurchased shares. The remaining shares related to the EUR 35 million program, aimed at fulfilling some obligations connected to the senior management, are expected to be held as treasury shares until they are directed toward the plan participants.

The diversified international insurance company takes shareholder-value boosting measures from time to time. It has a new repurchase program of EUR 200 million, which was expected to start this month and complete by 2024-end. It paid dividends of 30 euro cents per share in 2023, up 30% year over year. AEG intends to boost the figure to 40 euro cents per share by 2025.

The company’s cash-generating ability helps it to make such moves. The commercial momentum in U.S. Strategic Assets, U.K. Workplace and Brazil are expected to support its growth. AEG expects to generate operating capital before holding funding and operating expenses of EUR 1.1 billion in 2024. Furthermore, it aims to generate a free cash flow of about EUR 800 million by 2025.

Price Performance

Aegon shares have gained 8.7% in the year-to-date period compared with the 10.6% growth of the industry it belongs to.

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Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Aegon currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Investors interested in the broader Finance space may look at some better-ranked players like Ambac Financial Group, Inc. AMBC, Brown & Brown, Inc. BRO and Root, Inc. ROOT, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Ambac Financial’s current-year earnings is pegged at $1.45 per share, which witnessed one upward estimate revision in the past 60 days against no movement in the opposite direction. AMBC beat earnings estimates in all the past four quarters, with an average surprise of 893.5%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Brown & Brown’s current-year earnings is pegged at $3.61 per share, which indicates 28.5% year-over-year growth. It has witnessed one upward estimate revision against none in the opposite direction during the past 60 days. BRO beat earnings estimates in each of the past four quarters, with an average surprise of 11.9%.

The consensus mark for ROOT’s current-year earnings indicates a 53% year-over-year improvement. It beat earnings estimates in all the past four quarters, with an average surprise of 34.1%. Furthermore, the consensus estimate for Root’s 2024 revenues suggests 125.3% year-over-year growth.

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Aegon NV (AEG) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Brown & Brown, Inc. (BRO) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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