Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. Makes New Investment in American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG)

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 1,779 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Financial Group by 132.5% in the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 272 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC bought a new stake in American Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of American Financial Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $52,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of American Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Financial Group by 7,616.7% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 926 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $110,000 after buying an additional 914 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of American Financial Group from $139.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of American Financial Group from $129.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $135.00.

American Financial Group Price Performance

AFG opened at $130.08 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $130.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $121.37. The firm has a market cap of $10.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.45 and a beta of 0.79. American Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $105.22 and a 1 year high of $137.71.

American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The insurance provider reported $2.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.70 by $0.06. American Financial Group had a return on equity of 21.56% and a net margin of 11.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.89 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that American Financial Group, Inc. will post 10.99 earnings per share for the current year.

American Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th were given a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 12th. American Financial Group’s payout ratio is 27.18%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Brian S. Hertzman sold 1,067 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.95, for a total value of $135,455.65. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,343,511.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Brian S. Hertzman sold 1,067 shares of American Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.95, for a total value of $135,455.65. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,583 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,343,511.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Michelle A. Gillis sold 5,176 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total value of $626,296.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 45,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,490,012. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,843 shares of company stock valued at $1,854,746. Insiders own 14.50% of the company’s stock.

About American Financial Group

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.