Invesco Ltd. Sells 11,180 Shares of American Financial Group, Inc. $AFG

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. reduced its stake in American Financial Group by 1.1% in Q1, now holding approximately 1.18% of the company valued at $129.4 million.
• American Financial Group reported $2.14 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $2.08, while revenue increased by 1.3% compared to the previous year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.80 per share, resulting in an annual yield of 2.4% with a payout ratio of 35.16%.

Invesco Ltd. reduced its stake in American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG - Free Report) by 1.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 985,544 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 11,180 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned 1.18% of American Financial Group worth $129,441,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Townsquare Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Financial Group in the 1st quarter worth about $286,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new stake in American Financial Group during the first quarter valued at about $655,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in American Financial Group during the first quarter valued at about $55,000. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in American Financial Group by 6.9% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 97,551 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $12,812,000 after purchasing an additional 6,298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in American Financial Group by 395.5% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,520,714 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $331,071,000 after purchasing an additional 2,012,027 shares during the last quarter. 64.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of American Financial Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of American Financial Group from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $136.75.

American Financial Group Price Performance

AFG traded up $1.4070 on Tuesday, reaching $131.7970. The company had a trading volume of 46,738 shares, compared to its average volume of 502,996. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $126.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $125.85. The company has a market cap of $10.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.48 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.47. 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The insurance provider reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. American Financial Group had a net margin of 9.21% and a return on equity of 17.41%. American Financial Group's quarterly revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.56 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Financial Group, Inc. will post 10.5 EPS for the current year.

American Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th were paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 15th. American Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.16%.

American Financial Group Company Profile

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.