Globe Life price target lowered to $125 from $138 at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI analyst Thomas Gallagher lowered the firm’s price target on Globe Life to $125 from $138 and keeps an In Line rating on the shares. Business Insider reported on March 6 that the U.S. Department of Justice has issued subpoenas to Globe Life and its subsidiary American Income Life, seeking information related to allegations of fraud and misconduct and during the company’s Q4 earnings call in February they made they referenced this situation, without specifically mentioning the DOJ subpoenas, according to the analyst. If the more likely impact from this DOJ investigation is a fine of some sort, then Evercore wouldn’t expect it to be a “huge issue,” but if it materially disrupts sales and recruiting at Globe’s largest life insurance distribution channel, that could be “a bigger issue,” says the analyst, who is lowering the firm’s multiple to reflect some uncertainty with regard to future growth and recruiting at a key distributor.