American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG) Shares Purchased by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG – Get Rating) by 102.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 63,134 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 31,981 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 0.07% of American Financial Group worth $7,762,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AFG. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in American Financial Group by 4.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,544,354 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,098,609,000 after purchasing an additional 313,115 shares during the last quarter. Bishop Rock Capital L.P. grew its holdings in American Financial Group by 5,124.6% in the second quarter. Bishop Rock Capital L.P. now owns 5,607,646 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $40,398,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500,315 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in American Financial Group by 2.2% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,997,453 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $368,477,000 after purchasing an additional 64,157 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in American Financial Group by 4.8% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 721,310 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $105,037,000 after purchasing an additional 32,914 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in American Financial Group by 4.8% in the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 715,451 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $99,311,000 after purchasing an additional 32,825 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on AFG. Piper Sandler upped their target price on American Financial Group from $162.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on American Financial Group from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on American Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, January 19th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $155.00 price objective on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $162.75.

American Financial Group Stock Down 1.7 %

AFG opened at $122.23 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $136.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $134.98. American Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $119.01 and a 52 week high of $152.29. The firm has a market cap of $10.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.61 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The insurance provider reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.95 by $0.04. American Financial Group had a return on equity of 23.52% and a net margin of 12.76%. The firm had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.12 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that American Financial Group, Inc. will post 11.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Financial Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a None dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 15th were given a dividend of $4.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 14th. American Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John B. Berding sold 5,417 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.62, for a total transaction of $740,070.54. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,083 shares in the company, valued at $4,929,659.46. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 14.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About American Financial Group

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American Financial Group, Inc is an insurance holding company. It engages in property and casualty insurance, focusing on commercial products for businesses, and in the sale of fixed and fixed-indexed annuities in the retail, financial institutions and education markets. The company was founded by Carl Henry Lindner Jr.