GSA Capital Partners LLP Buys Shares of 4,836 American Financial Group, Inc. $AFG

GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,836 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $677,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in American Financial Group by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,567,721 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $350,956,000 after purchasing an additional 57,246 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $236,645,000 after acquiring an additional 29,731 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of American Financial Group by 19.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,506,510 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $192,395,000 after purchasing an additional 240,509 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in American Financial Group by 33.2% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in American Financial Group by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 894,998 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $122,329,000 after purchasing an additional 36,971 shares in the last quarter. 64.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AFG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of American Financial Group from $140.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of American Financial Group from $148.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded American Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on American Financial Group from $158.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $156.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Mark A. Weiss sold 2,813 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.76, for a total transaction of $407,209.88. Following the sale, the vice president owned 6,648 shares in the company, valued at $962,364.48. This represents a 29.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider David Lawrence Thompson, Jr. sold 11,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 584,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $78,882,434.90. This trade represents a 1.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 16,430 shares of company stock worth $2,255,061 over the last quarter. 16.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Financial Group Stock Down 1.5%

AFG stock opened at $143.41 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $140.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $134.25. The company has a market capitalization of $11.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.54 and a beta of 0.62. American Financial Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.09 and a twelve month high of $150.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The insurance provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.32 by $0.50. American Financial Group had a net margin of 11.51% and a return on equity of 20.35%. The business had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.14 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that American Financial Group, Inc. will post 11.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th were issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis 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 is 30.77%.

American Financial Group 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.