American Financial Group, Inc. $AFG Shares Acquired by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG) by 34.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 29,836 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,661 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in American Financial Group were worth $4,348,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFG. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in American Financial Group by 11.1% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 75,421 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $9,905,000 after buying an additional 7,554 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of American Financial Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,330,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in American Financial Group by 145.8% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,278 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $168,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in American Financial Group by 86.7% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 422 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aberdeen Group plc raised its holdings in American Financial Group by 28.1% during the second quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 4,382 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $549,000 after purchasing an additional 960 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.37% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AFG has been the topic of several research reports. Piper Sandler upped their target price on American Financial Group from $130.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $142.00 price objective on shares of American Financial Group in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of American Financial Group from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of American Financial Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.25.

American Financial Group Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:AFG opened at $128.85 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a market capitalization of $10.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.80 and a beta of 0.71. American Financial Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.73 and a 52-week high of $150.02. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $132.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $135.18.

American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The insurance provider reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.79 billion. American Financial Group had a return on equity of 18.92% and a net margin of 10.30%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.12 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that American Financial Group, Inc. will post 10.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a special dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 16th will be given a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. American Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 34.96%.

About American Financial Group

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.