American Financial Group, Inc. $AFG Stake Cut by US Bancorp DE

US Bancorp DE cut its position in shares of American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG) by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,898 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 548 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in American Financial Group were worth $1,628,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lifted its stake in American Financial Group by 1.6% during the second quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 26,200 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,307,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. lifted its stake in American Financial Group by 1.7% during the second quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 9,645 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,217,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in American Financial Group by 6.6% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,784 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $730,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in American Financial Group by 11.7% in the second quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 65,693 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $8,291,000 after buying an additional 6,872 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional lifted its stake in American Financial Group by 4.5% in the second quarter. CX Institutional now owns 2,839 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $358,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. 64.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AFG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of American Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on American Financial Group from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on American Financial Group from $127.00 to $124.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded American Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $136.75.

Insider Transactions at American Financial Group

In related news, Director Stephen Craig Lindner, Jr. sold 10,000 shares of American Financial Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.31, for a total transaction of $1,343,100.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 326,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,883,106.30. The trade was a 2.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 17.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AFG opened at $131.23 on Friday. American Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.73 and a fifty-two week high of $150.19. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $138.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $129.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market cap of $10.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.42 and a beta of 0.74.

American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The insurance provider reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.77 billion. American Financial Group had a net margin of 9.21% and a return on equity of 17.41%. The company’s revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.56 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that American Financial Group, Inc. will post 10.5 EPS for the current year.

American Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. This is an increase from American Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. American Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.68%.

American Financial Group 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.