OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Cuts Stock Holdings in American Financial Group, Inc. $AFG

Key Points

• OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp reduced its stake in American Financial Group by 12.7%, selling 2,366 shares, leaving them with a total of 16,307 shares valued at approximately $2.14 million.
• Director Stephen Craig Lindner, Jr. sold 10,000 shares at an average price of $134.31, resulting in a total transaction value of $1.34 million and a 2.97% decrease in his ownership stake.
• Analysts have recently downgraded American Financial Group's rating from "hold" to "sell," with a consensus price target of $136.75.

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp cut its holdings in shares of American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG - Free Report) by 12.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,307 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 2,366 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp's holdings in American Financial Group were worth $2,142,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. American Financial Group Inc. 401 K Retirement & Savings Plan grew its position in shares of American Financial Group by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. American Financial Group Inc. 401 K Retirement & Savings Plan now owns 2,616,928 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $343,707,000 after acquiring an additional 23,228 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in American Financial Group by 395.5% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,520,714 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $331,071,000 after buying an additional 2,012,027 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in American Financial Group by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 983,398 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $129,147,000 after buying an additional 14,265 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in American Financial Group by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 820,955 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $107,824,000 after buying an additional 18,886 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its holdings in American Financial Group by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 645,466 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $84,776,000 after buying an additional 59,715 shares during the last quarter. 64.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on American Financial Group from $127.00 to $124.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on American Financial Group from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of American Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $136.75.

American Financial Group Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of AFG stock traded up $1.81 during trading on Thursday, hitting $139.23. 257,058 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 496,042. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.28 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $128.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $126.45. American Financial Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.73 and a 52-week high of $150.19.

American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The insurance provider reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. American Financial Group had a net margin of 9.21% and a return on equity of 17.41%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.56 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that American Financial Group, Inc. will post 10.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th were given a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. American Financial Group's payout ratio is presently 35.16%.

Insider Transactions at American Financial Group

In other American Financial Group news, Director Stephen Craig Lindner, Jr. sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.31, for a total value of $1,343,100.00. Following the sale, the director owned 326,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,883,106.30. The trade was a 2.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 17.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About American Financial Group

American Financial Group, Inc, an insurance holding company, provides specialty property and casualty insurance products in the United States. The company offers property and transportation insurance products, such as physical damage and liability coverage for buses and trucks, inland and ocean marine, agricultural-related products, and other commercial property and specialty transportation coverages; specialty casualty insurance, including primarily excess and surplus, executive and professional liability, general liability, umbrella and excess liability, and specialty coverage in targeted markets, as well as customized programs for small to mid-sized businesses and workers' compensation insurance; and specialty financial insurance products comprising risk management insurance programs for lending and leasing institutions, fidelity and surety products, and trade credit insurance.