Axa S.A. Increases Holdings in American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG)

Axa S.A. increased its holdings in American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG) by 71.7% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 45,864 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 19,153 shares during the period. Axa S.A.’s holdings in American Financial Group were worth $5,642,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of American Financial Group by 35.6% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 716 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in American Financial Group in the second quarter valued at $124,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in American Financial Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $99,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its stake in shares of American Financial Group by 560.1% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 17,731 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,181,000 after buying an additional 15,045 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its holdings in shares of American Financial Group by 59.9% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 13,659 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,680,000 after buying an additional 5,116 shares during the period. 64.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Citigroup cut American Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $144.00 to $137.00 in a research report on Friday, June 28th.

American Financial Group Stock Down 0.8 %

AFG stock opened at $135.12 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $130.93 and its 200 day moving average is $129.42. The firm has a market cap of $11.34 billion, a PE ratio of 12.93 and a beta of 0.78. American Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $105.22 and a one year high of $137.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.46.

American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The insurance provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.45 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. American Financial Group had a return on equity of 21.16% and a net margin of 11.06%. American Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.38 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that American Financial Group, Inc. will post 10.96 EPS for the current year.

American Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. American Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.18%.

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.