Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Grows Position in American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG) by 10.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,186 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 605 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in American Financial Group were worth $812,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AFG. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of American Financial Group by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 12,040 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,649,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of American Financial Group by 301.1% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 702 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in shares of American Financial Group by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 17,600 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,410,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its stake in shares of American Financial Group by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 262,014 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,878,000 after purchasing an additional 18,938 shares during the period. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of American Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,661,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.37% of the company’s stock.

American Financial Group Price Performance

AFG opened at $123.80 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $125.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $128.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market cap of $10.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.00 and a beta of 0.72. American Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.73 and a 12-month high of $150.19.

American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) last issued 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). American Financial Group had a net margin of 9.66% and a return on equity of 18.34%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.76 earnings per share. American Financial Group’s revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that American Financial Group, Inc. will post 10.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th were issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. American Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 33.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on American Financial Group from $126.00 to $125.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered American Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $138.75.

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.