Synergy Asset Management LLC Invests $357,000 in American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG)

Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,721 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $357,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Financial Group by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,287,861 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,134,857,000 after purchasing an additional 99,560 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in American Financial Group by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,595,346 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $218,146,000 after buying an additional 42,139 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of American Financial Group by 26.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 997,340 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $136,566,000 after buying an additional 207,285 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of American Financial Group by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 996,724 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $136,481,000 after acquiring an additional 63,193 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of American Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $122,419,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.37% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of American Financial Group from $126.00 to $125.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered American Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $138.75.

American Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AFG traded up $1.60 on Thursday, hitting $124.28. The stock had a trading volume of 474,382 shares, compared to its average volume of 411,871. American Financial Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $114.73 and a twelve month high of $150.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $124.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $128.30. The company has a market capitalization of $10.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.06 and a beta of 0.72.

American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The insurance provider reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.17 by ($0.36). The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.74 billion. American Financial Group had a net margin of 9.66% and a return on equity of 18.34%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.76 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that American Financial Group, Inc. will post 10.5 earnings per share for the current year.

American Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th were issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 15th. American Financial Group's payout ratio is currently 33.61%.

American Financial Group 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.