American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) Stock Price Passes Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG)’s share price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $132.40 and traded as high as $133.85. American Financial Group shares last traded at $132.2860, with a volume of 458,599 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFG has been the subject of several recent research 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 report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings raised American Financial Group from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on American Financial Group from $134.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on American Financial Group from $155.00 to $158.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.75.

American Financial Group Stock Up 1.1%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $129.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $132.42. The company has a market capitalization of $11.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.75 and a beta of 0.65.

American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.54 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. American Financial Group had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 19.50%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.81 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that American Financial Group, Inc. will post 11.21 EPS for the current year.

American Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th were issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 15th. American Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 33.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Financial Group news, CFO Brian S. Hertzman sold 1,663 shares of American Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.70, for a total transaction of $222,343.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 12,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,614,160.10. The trade was a 12.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 16.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AFG. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of American Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $114,661,000. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in shares of American Financial Group by 20,131.5% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 637,090 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $87,077,000 after acquiring an additional 633,941 shares during the last quarter. Vestor Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of American Financial Group by 100,006.8% in the fourth quarter. Vestor Capital LLC now owns 600,641 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $82,096,000 after acquiring an additional 600,041 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $431,906,000 after acquiring an additional 337,573 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of American Financial Group by 337.1% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 431,144 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $55,061,000 after acquiring an additional 332,517 shares during the last quarter. 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.