Vestor Capital LLC Trims Position in American Financial Group, Inc. $AFG

Vestor Capital LLC decreased its holdings in shares of American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG) by 99.9% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 600 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 600,041 shares during the quarter. Vestor Capital LLC’s holdings in American Financial Group were worth $77,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of American Financial Group by 24.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 294,396 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $37,597,000 after purchasing an additional 57,023 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of American Financial Group by 487.7% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 30,500 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,894,000 after purchasing an additional 25,310 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of American Financial Group by 5.7% during the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 151,888 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $19,398,000 after purchasing an additional 8,220 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of American Financial Group by 7.9% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 48,326 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,172,000 after purchasing an additional 3,532 shares during the period. Finally, SummitTX Capital L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of American Financial Group during the first quarter worth $278,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of American Financial Group from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of American Financial Group from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of American Financial Group from $158.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of American Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $150.75.

American Financial Group Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of AFG stock opened at $141.72 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $137.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $132.87. American Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.11 and a 1-year high of $150.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.78 billion, a PE ratio of 13.47 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.54 by ($0.07). American Financial Group had a return on equity of 19.50% and a net margin of 10.76%.The business had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.81 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that American Financial Group, Inc. will post 11.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th were paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 15th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. American Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 33.46%.

Insider Transactions at American Financial Group

In related news, insider David Lawrence Thompson, Jr. sold 11,370 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.05, for a total transaction of $1,535,518.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 584,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,882,434.90. The trade was a 1.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Michelle A. Gillis sold 2,247 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.00, for a total transaction of $312,333.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,135 shares in the company, valued at $1,825,765. The trade was a 14.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 16.90% of the company’s stock.

American Financial Group Profile

American Financial Group, Inc (NYSE: AFG) is a diversified holding company primarily engaged in property and casualty insurance and reinsurance. Through its flagship subsidiary, Great American Insurance Company, the firm underwrites a broad range of specialty insurance products for commercial and industrial clients, including inland marine, excess and surplus lines, executive liability, and environmental liability coverage. In addition, American Financial Group offers supplemental accident and health insurance and assumes reinsurance risks from other insurers, helping to diversify its underwriting portfolio.

The company traces its roots to 1946, when it was founded by Carl Lindner, Sr.