American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) Stock Gets Price Target Reduction from Wells Fargo & Company

American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) had its price objective decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $175.00 to $166.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered American Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on American Financial Group from $153.00 to $147.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Piper Sandler increased their target price on American Financial Group from $140.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded American Financial Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $152.75.

American Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of AFG opened at $145.57 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.07 billion, a PE ratio of 12.43 and a beta of 0.59. American Financial Group has a one year low of $123.09 and a one year high of $148.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $142.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $137.71.

American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The insurance provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.32 by $0.50. American Financial Group had a net margin of 11.51% and a return on equity of 20.35%. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.14 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that American Financial Group will post 12.29 earnings per share for the current year.

American Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $0.97 per share. This represents a $3.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. This is an increase from American Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 15th. American Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 30.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Financial Group news, CFO Brian S. Hertzman sold 950 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.87, for a total value of $135,726.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 11,123 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,589,143.01. This represents a 7.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Mark A. Weiss sold 2,813 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.76, for a total transaction of $407,209.88. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 6,648 shares in the company, valued at $962,364.48. This represents a 29.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 16.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of American Financial Group in the first quarter valued at about $2,567,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in American Financial Group by 433.2% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 316,974 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $40,481,000 after acquiring an additional 257,522 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new position in American Financial Group during the second quarter valued at about $6,760,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in American Financial Group during the second quarter valued at about $1,121,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its stake in American Financial Group by 281.1% during the first quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 28,243 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,607,000 after acquiring an additional 20,832 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.37% of the company’s stock.

About American Financial Group

American Financial Group, Inc is an insurance holding company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Through its Great American Insurance Group businesses, the company primarily provides property and casualty insurance products, with an emphasis on specialty commercial markets that require specialized underwriting expertise.

Its insurance offerings include coverage for commercial transportation, agriculture, workers’ compensation, excess and surplus risks, environmental exposures, inland marine, and other niche industries.