Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Boosts Position in American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 151,771 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,911 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in American Financial Group were worth $20,782,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AFG. FMR LLC boosted its position in American Financial Group by 3.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,516,351 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $742,501,000 after purchasing an additional 202,522 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in American Financial Group by 78.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 333,078 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $44,832,000 after purchasing an additional 146,237 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in American Financial Group by 10.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,553,207 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $208,699,000 after purchasing an additional 143,820 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in American Financial Group by 4.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,693,356 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $362,526,000 after purchasing an additional 104,172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in American Financial Group by 123.4% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 115,050 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $15,486,000 after purchasing an additional 63,541 shares in the last quarter. 64.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded American Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $164.00 to $144.00 in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on American Financial Group from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on American Financial Group from $135.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th.

American Financial Group Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:AFG opened at $125.06 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market capitalization of $10.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.83 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $135.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $134.85. American Financial Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $118.97 and a 52-week high of $150.19.

American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The insurance provider reported $3.12 earnings per share (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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that American Financial Group, Inc. will post 10.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th were issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 14th. 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.