Allianz Asset Management GmbH Grows Position in American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG)

Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in shares of American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 262,014 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 18,938 shares during the quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH owned about 0.31% of American Financial Group worth $35,878,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Financial Group by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 151,771 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $20,782,000 after buying an additional 3,911 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in shares of American Financial Group by 55.2% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 7,837 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,073,000 after buying an additional 2,789 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of American Financial Group by 78.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 333,078 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $44,832,000 after purchasing an additional 146,237 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Financial Group by 17.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 49,796 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,833,000 after purchasing an additional 7,365 shares during the period. Finally, Argent Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Financial Group by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 31,362 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,294,000 after purchasing an additional 2,787 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AFG. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of American Financial Group from $135.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of American Financial Group from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of American Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $164.00 to $144.00 in a report on Friday, February 7th.

American Financial Group Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE AFG opened at $119.80 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $132.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $134.67. American Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $118.97 and a 12 month high of $150.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.33 and a beta of 0.83.

American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The insurance provider reported $3.12 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by ($0.03). American Financial Group had a net margin of 10.66% and a return on equity of 20.30%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Financial Group, Inc. will post 10.5 earnings per share for the current year.

American Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th were given a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. American Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 30.27%.

About American Financial Group

American Financial Group, Inc, an insurance holding company, provides specialty property and casualty insurance products in the United States. The company offers property and transportation insurance products, such as physical damage and liability coverage for buses and trucks, inland and ocean marine, agricultural-related products, and other commercial property and specialty transportation coverages; specialty casualty insurance, including primarily excess and surplus, executive and professional liability, general liability, umbrella and excess liability, and specialty coverage in targeted markets, as well as customized programs for small to mid-sized businesses and workers’ compensation insurance; and specialty financial insurance products comprising risk management insurance programs for lending and leasing institutions, fidelity and surety products, and trade credit insurance.