American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) Price Target Raised to $158.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) had its target price lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $155.00 to $158.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

AFG has been the topic of several other reports. Piper Sandler upped their price target on American Financial Group from $129.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on American Financial Group from $134.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised American Financial Group from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Financial Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.75.

American Financial Group Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of AFG opened at $132.27 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $129.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $132.39. American Financial Group has a twelve month low of $120.52 and a twelve month high of $150.02. The stock has a market cap of $10.99 billion, a PE ratio of 12.57 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.54 by ($0.07). American Financial Group had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 19.49%. The company had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.81 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that American Financial Group will post 10.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th were paid a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. American Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.46%.

Insider Transactions at American Financial Group

In other American Financial Group news, CFO Brian S. Hertzman sold 1,663 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.70, for a total value of $222,343.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 12,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,614,160.10. This represents a 12.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 16.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of American Financial Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in American Financial Group by 12.9% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,963,942 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $431,906,000 after buying an additional 337,573 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in American Financial Group by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,567,721 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $350,956,000 after buying an additional 57,246 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in American Financial Group by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,732,557 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $236,645,000 after buying an additional 29,731 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in American Financial Group by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,266,001 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $173,045,000 after buying an additional 138,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in American Financial Group by 33.2% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,026,783 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $149,623,000 after buying an additional 255,693 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.37% of the company’s stock.

American Financial Group Company 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.