WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) _ American Equity Investment Life Holding Co. (AEL) on Wednesday reported first-quarter earnings of $282.7 million.

The West Des Moines, Iowa-based company said it had net income of $2.82 per share. Earnings, adjusted for investment gains, came to 43 cents per share.

The results missed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 59 cents per share.

The annuity and insurance underwriter posted revenue of $962.2 million in the period. Its adjusted revenue was $497.2 million, surpassing Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $491.1 million.

American Equity shares have increased 14% since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Wednesday, shares hit $31.52, a rise of 65% 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

Copyright by Automated Insights, Inc. All rights reserved., source Associated Press News