KKR & Co Inc (NYSE:KKR) stock rose 1.66% (As on February 7, 11:38:25 AM UTC-4, Source: Google Finance) after the company posted a fourth-quarter profit that beat Wall Street estimates, fueled by record fee-related earnings and strength in its Global Atlantic insurance business. After-tax distributable earnings rose 4% to $888 million. Fee-related earnings rose 21% during the quarter to $675 million on growth in management fees and KKR’s capital markets unit, which arranges financing. KKR reported $359.6 million in realized carried interest for the three months ended Dec. 31, an 85% increase from a year earlier, as the firm exited more investments. Meanwhile, in November, the firm agreed to acquire the remaining 37% of Global Atlantic that it didn’t already own for about $2.7 billion. It also announced a new strategic holdings segment that would hold its core private equity investments.

Moreover, the private equity portfolio of the firm appreciated by 3% in the quarter and 16% for the year. Real assets displayed mixed results with the opportunistic real estate portfolio experiencing a slight dip of 1% for the quarter. However, the infrastructure portfolio rose by 5% in the quarter and 18% for the year. In the credit segment, the leverage credit composite was up 3% and the alternative credit composite up 2%.

KKR in the fourth quarter of FY 23 has reported the adjusted earnings per share of $1, beating the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of 93 cents, according to average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The company had reported the adjusted revenue of $2.48 billion in the fourth quarter of FY 23, beating the analysts’ estimates for revenue of $2.47 billion.

KKR has announced its intentions to increase its annual dividend from $0.66 to $0.70 per share, effective with the first quarter 2024 earnings. The company has also introduced strategic initiatives, including the acquisition of the remaining stake in Global Atlantic and the inception of a new strategic holding segment. Additionally, the company’s assets under management now stand at a massive $553 billion, registering a 10% increase compared to the end of 2022. The company also boasts of a robust forward visibility for investing revenue with total embedded gains of $12.3 billion at year-end, marking an almost 40% increase compared to the fourth quarter of 2022. In a promising development, KKR has increased its 2026 FRE per share target to $4.50 plus, up from $2.68 per share in 2023.