American International Group Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:AIG)

American International Group, Inc. (NYSE:AIG) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 43,207 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 1,045% compared to the average daily volume of 3,772 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AIG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on American International Group from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of American International Group from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on American International Group from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on American International Group from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on American International Group from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.12.

American International Group Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of AIG opened at $85.85 on Friday. American International Group has a 1-year low of $69.00 and a 1-year high of $88.07. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.81. The stock has a market cap of $49.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -41.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

American International Group (NYSE:AIG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The insurance provider reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $6.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.89 billion. American International Group had a negative net margin of 4.25% and a positive return on equity of 8.01%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.25 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that American International Group will post 6.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American International Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This is an increase from American International Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. American International Group’s dividend payout ratio is -67.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American International Group

In other news, EVP Christopher Flatt sold 46,182 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.26, for a total transaction of $3,845,113.32. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,400 shares in the company, valued at $1,781,764. This trade represents a 68.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American International Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AIG. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of American International Group by 54.3% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 12,690 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $924,000 after purchasing an additional 4,468 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in American International Group by 94.4% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 11,374 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $828,000 after purchasing an additional 5,522 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of American International Group by 34.7% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 11,161 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $813,000 after acquiring an additional 2,874 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of American International Group by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 13,513 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $984,000 after acquiring an additional 1,585 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its stake in American International Group by 42.5% during the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,465,871 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $106,715,000 after purchasing an additional 437,339 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.60% of the company’s stock.

American International Group Company Profile

American International Group, Inc offers insurance products for commercial, institutional, and individual customers in North America and internationally. It operates through three segments: General Insurance, Life and Retirement, and Other Operations. The General Insurance segment provides commercial and industrial property insurance, including business interruption and package insurance that cover exposure to made and natural disasters; general liability, environmental, commercial automobile liability, workers’ compensation, excess casualty, and crisis management insurance products; and professional liability insurance.