American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) Lowered to “Sell” Rating by Wall Street Zen

American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on American Financial Group from $126.00 to $125.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Financial Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $138.75.

American Financial Group Trading Up 0.9%

American Financial Group stock opened at $123.80 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $10.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.00 and a beta of 0.72. American Financial Group has a fifty-two week low of $114.73 and a fifty-two week high of $150.19. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $125.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $128.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67.

American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The insurance provider reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.17 by ($0.36). The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.74 billion. American Financial Group had a return on equity of 18.34% and a net margin of 9.66%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.76 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that American Financial Group will post 10.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of AFG. Private Trust Co. NA grew its position in American Financial Group by 144.3% during the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 215 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in American Financial Group during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Natixis bought a new stake in American Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in American Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in American Financial Group during the 1st quarter valued at $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.37% of the company’s stock.

American Financial Group Company 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.