Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 55,700 American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG)

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 55,700 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,622,000. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.07% of American Financial Group at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of American Financial Group by 2.7% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 10,823 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,576,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Financial Group by 26.6% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 14,648 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,133,000 after purchasing an additional 3,076 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Financial Group by 4.0% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,474 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $798,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can grew its holdings in shares of American Financial Group by 5.5% during the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 50,464 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $7,610,000 after purchasing an additional 2,635 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Financial Group by 23.8% during the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 5,617 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $818,000 after purchasing an additional 1,081 shares during the last quarter. 64.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Michelle A. Gillis sold 5,176 shares of American Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total transaction of $626,296.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,372 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,490,012. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other American Financial Group news, SVP Michelle A. Gillis sold 5,176 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total value of $626,296.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,372 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,490,012. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michelle A. Gillis sold 2,053 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.81, for a total value of $260,340.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 48,554 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,157,132.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 14,843 shares of company stock worth $1,854,746. Company insiders own 14.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on AFG. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $129.00 price objective on shares of American Financial Group in a report on Monday, April 1st. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on American Financial Group in a report on Thursday, December 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $135.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on American Financial Group from $139.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $133.50.

American Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE AFG opened at $132.55 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. American Financial Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $105.22 and a 52-week high of $137.71. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $127.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $118.86. The firm has a market cap of $11.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.19 and a beta of 0.79.

American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The insurance provider reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.03. American Financial Group had a return on equity of 22.14% and a net margin of 10.89%. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.99 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that American Financial Group, Inc. will post 11.02 earnings per share for the current year.

American Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. American Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.26%.

American Financial Group 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.