Engineers Gate Manager LP Lowers Stock Position in American Financial Group, Inc. $AFG

Engineers Gate Manager LP trimmed its holdings in American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG) by 10.5% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 47,040 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 5,500 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP’s holdings in American Financial Group were worth $6,583,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AFG. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of American Financial Group during the first quarter worth about $2,330,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 758 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in American Financial Group by 144.8% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 793 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $100,000 after acquiring an additional 469 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in American Financial Group by 62.4% during the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 2,941 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $371,000 after acquiring an additional 1,130 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.37% of the company’s stock.

American Financial Group Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE AFG opened at $141.88 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.40 and a beta of 0.60. American Financial Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.09 and a 52-week high of $150.02. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $142.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $135.80.

American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The insurance provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.32 by $0.50. American Financial Group had a return on equity of 20.35% and a net margin of 11.51%.The company had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that American Financial Group, Inc. will post 12.13 EPS for the current year.

American Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th were issued a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 15th. American Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AFG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on American Financial Group from $148.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on American Financial Group from $140.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Wall Street Zen cut American Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on American Financial Group from $158.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of American Financial Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $156.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Mark Weiss sold 2,813 shares of American Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.76, for a total value of $407,209.88. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 6,648 shares in the company, valued at $962,364.48. The trade was a 29.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider David Thompson, Jr. sold 11,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.05, for a total value of $1,535,518.50. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 584,098 shares in the company, valued at $78,882,434.90. This represents a 1.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 17,380 shares of company stock valued at $2,390,788 in the last three months. 16.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About American Financial Group

American Financial Group, Inc (NYSE:AFG) is an insurance holding company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Through its Great American Insurance Group subsidiaries, the company primarily underwrites specialty property and casualty insurance and sells annuity products.

Its property and casualty operations serve businesses, organizations and individuals through specialized products that include commercial transportation, agricultural and crop insurance, workers’ compensation, casualty coverage, financial institution insurance, surety and fidelity bonds, marine insurance, travel insurance and public-sector coverage.