Piper Sandler Reiterates “Neutral” Rating for American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG)

Piper Sandler reiterated their neutral rating on shares of American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) in a report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $129.00 price objective on the insurance provider’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on American Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, December 14th. They issued a buy rating and a $135.00 price target for the company. Citigroup boosted their target price 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Financial Group currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $133.50.

American Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE AFG opened at $132.30 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $127.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $118.67. American Financial Group has a 12-month low of $105.22 and a 12-month high of $137.71. The company has a market capitalization of $11.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.16 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The insurance provider reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. American Financial Group had a return on equity of 22.14% and a net margin of 10.89%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.99 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that American Financial Group will post 11.02 earnings per share for the current year.

American Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. American Financial Group’s payout ratio is 28.26%.

Insider Transactions at American Financial Group

In related news, Director James E. Evans sold 2,274 shares of American Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.64, for a total transaction of $292,527.36. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 105,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,546,049.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director James E. Evans sold 2,274 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.64, for a total transaction of $292,527.36. Following the sale, the director now owns 105,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,546,049.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michelle A. Gillis sold 2,053 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.81, for a total value of $260,340.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,554 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,157,132.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,843 shares of company stock valued at $1,854,746. 14.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFG. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its position in American Financial Group by 132.5% in the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 272 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. Money Concepts Capital Corp acquired a new position in American Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of American Financial Group by 44.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 323 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of American Financial Group during the third quarter worth about $52,000. 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.