Shares of Globe Life Inc. GL hit a 52-week high of $160.74 on Tuesday. Shares closed at $159.33 after gaining 32.7% over the past year, outperforming the industry, sector, and the Zacks S&P 500 composite over the same period.
GL has outperformed its peers, Aflac Incorporated AFL and Unum Group UNM, which have risen 13.1% and 11.7%, respectively, in the past year, while AMERISAFE, Inc. AMSF has lost 31.1%.
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With a capitalization of $12.37 billion, the average number of shares traded in the last three months was 0.5 million.
GL Trading Above 50-Day and 200-Day Moving Averages
Shares of Globe Life are trading above the 50-day and 200-day simple moving averages (SMAs) at $150.92 and $141.94, respectively, indicating solid upward momentum. SMA is a widely used technical analysis tool to predict future price trends by analyzing historical price data.
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GL Shares are Affordable
Globe Life shares are trading at a discount compared to the industry. Its forward price-to-earnings multiple of 9.91X is lower than the industry average of 12.97X, the Finance sector’s 15.79X, and the Zacks S&P 500 Composite’s 21.5X. Also, it has a Value Score of A.
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GL’s Growth Projection Encourages
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Globe Life’s 2026 earnings per share indicates a year-over-year increase of 7.5%. The consensus estimate for revenues is pegged at $6.40 billion, implying a year-over-year improvement of 6.2%.
The consensus estimate for 2027 earnings per share and revenues indicates an increase of 6.6% and 6.5%, 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 $175.77 per share. The average indicates a potential 11.8% upside from the last closing price.
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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 2026, 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.
Coupled with the impressive dividend history, solid growth projections, and higher return on equity, as well as the affordability of shares, the time appears right for potential investors to bet on this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) insurer. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).