American Equity Beats 1Q Profit Forecasts

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) _ American Equity Investment Life Holding Co. (AEL) on Wednesday reported first-quarter net income of $53.9 million, after reporting a loss in the same period a year earlier.

On a per-share basis, the West Des Moines, Iowa-based company said it had profit of 60 cents. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, came to 66 cents per share.

The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of four analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 58 cents per share.

The annuity and insurance underwriter posted revenue of $927.3 million in the period. Its adjusted revenue was $485.6 million.

American Equity shares have risen 5 percent since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Wednesday, shares hit $23.69, an increase of 78 percent in the last 12 months.

This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on AEL at https://www.zacks.com/ap/AEL

Keywords: American Equity Investment, Earnings Report