American Financial Group, Inc., an insurance holding company, provides specialty property and casualty insurance products in the United States. It 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. The company sells its property and casualty insurance products through independent insurance agents and brokers. American Financial Group, Inc. was founded in 1872 and is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.
American Financial Group Trading Up 1.5 %
American Financial Group stock traded up $1.98 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $134.77. The company had a trading volume of 198,636 shares, compared to its average volume of 361,988. The firm has a market cap of $11.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.14 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.44. American Financial Group has a 1 year low of $122.71 and a 1 year high of $152.29. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $134.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $137.98.
American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG - Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 3rd. The insurance provider reported $2.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.61. American Financial Group had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 23.56%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.39 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Financial Group will post 11.44 earnings per share for the current year.
American Financial Group Cuts Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 15th were issued a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 14th. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. American Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 18.51%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of equities analysts have commented on AFG shares. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of American Financial Group in a research note on Friday, July 15th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $147.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of American Financial Group to $178.00 and gave the stock a "na" rating in a research note on Monday, May 16th.
Insider Activity
In other news, Director Terry S. Jacobs sold 293 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.03, for a total value of $41,028.79. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,850 shares in the company, valued at approximately $959,205.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 14.60% of the company's stock.