American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG) saw a significant drop in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 702,600 shares, a drop of 8.5% from the March 31st total of 767,900 shares. Currently, 0.9% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 343,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.0 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $129.00 target price on shares of American Financial Group in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of American Financial Group from $139.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $133.50.

Insider Activity at American Financial Group

In other news, CFO Brian S. Hertzman sold 1,067 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.95, for a total value of $135,455.65. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,583 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,343,511.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, VP Mark A. Weiss sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.06, for a total transaction of $317,650.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $959,684.18. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Brian S. Hertzman sold 1,067 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.95, for a total value of $135,455.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,343,511.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,843 shares of company stock valued at $1,854,746 over the last quarter. 14.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of American Financial Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of American Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth about $97,304,000. FMR LLC boosted its position in American Financial Group by 16.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,710,065 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $525,973,000 after purchasing an additional 654,442 shares in the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its holdings in American Financial Group by 447.1% in the third quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 259,491 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,977,000 after purchasing an additional 212,057 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of American Financial Group by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,838,501 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $456,359,000 after buying an additional 191,269 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of American Financial Group by 1,804.5% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 96,652 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $11,491,000 after buying an additional 91,577 shares during the period. 64.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Financial Group Stock Performance

AFG traded up $0.30 during trading on Monday, reaching $127.64. 354,952 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 335,191. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.47. American Financial Group has a 1 year low of $105.22 and a 1 year high of $137.71. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $129.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $120.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.70 and a beta of 0.79.

American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The insurance provider reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.03. American Financial Group had a net margin of 10.89% and a return on equity of 22.14%. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that American Financial Group will post 10.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th were issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. American Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.26%.

American Financial Group Company Profile

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.