2,298 Shares in American Financial Group, Inc. $AFG Acquired by WBI Investments LLC

Key Points

• WBI Investments LLC acquired a new position in American Financial Group, purchasing 2,298 shares valued at approximately $302,000, as reported in their recent Form 13F filing with the SEC.
• American Financial Group reported quarterly earnings of $2.14 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations of $2.08, despite revenues dropped to $1.65 billion against a forecast of $1.77 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.80 per share, yielding 2.3% annually, with a payout ratio of 35.16% as of their last dividend payment on July 25th.

WBI Investments LLC bought a new stake in American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,298 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $302,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in American Financial Group by 395.5% in the first 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. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in American Financial Group by 240.0% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 585,841 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $76,821,000 after buying an additional 413,516 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Financial Group during the first quarter worth approximately $30,442,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of American Financial Group by 166.7% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 280,012 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $36,777,000 after acquiring an additional 175,015 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in American Financial Group by 112.5% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 327,621 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $43,030,000 after purchasing an additional 173,452 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.37% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AFG shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of American Financial Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of American Financial Group from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on American Financial Group from $127.00 to $124.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $136.75.

American Financial Group Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of AFG traded up $0.69 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $139.37. The company's stock had a trading volume of 92,414 shares, compared to its average volume of 495,792. The company has a market cap of $11.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.34 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a fifty day moving average of $131.29 and a 200 day moving average of $127.50. American Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.73 and a 1 year high of $150.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. American Financial Group had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 9.21%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.56 earnings per share. As a group, 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 business 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 was Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. American Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.16%.

Insider Activity

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 transaction, the director directly owned 326,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $43,883,106.30. The trade was a 2.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 17.40% of the company's stock.

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.