Bridgewater Associates LP Acquires Shares of 5,367 American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG)

Bridgewater Associates LP bought a new position in shares of American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 5,367 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $722,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC increased its holdings in American Financial Group by 3.8% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of American Financial Group by 0.9% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 836,619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $102,921,000 after buying an additional 7,797 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in American Financial Group by 0.4% in the second quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 576,174 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $70,881,000 after acquiring an additional 2,389 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in American Financial Group by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 503,115 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $67,719,000 after acquiring an additional 39,623 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EULAV Asset Management grew its holdings in American Financial Group by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 498,721 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $67,128,000 after acquiring an additional 42,902 shares in the last quarter. 64.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Financial Group Trading Down 2.0 %

American Financial Group stock opened at $143.91 on Tuesday. American Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.73 and a 12-month high of $150.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.08 billion, a PE ratio of 13.49 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $137.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $131.49.

American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The insurance provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.51 by ($0.20). The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. American Financial Group had a net margin of 10.84% and a return on equity of 19.97%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that American Financial Group, Inc. will post 10.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a None dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $4.00 dividend. This is an increase from American Financial Group’s previous None dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. American Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AFG has been the topic of several research reports. 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 note on Tuesday, November 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of American Financial Group from $135.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th.

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.