894,025 Shares in American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG) Bought by Norges Bank

Norges Bank acquired a new position in American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 894,025 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $122,419,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations purchased a new position in shares of American Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,372,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in American Financial Group by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 55,269 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $7,461,000 after buying an additional 8,212 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its holdings in American Financial Group by 51.9% in the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 4,584 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $628,000 after buying an additional 1,567 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Financial Group by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,287,861 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,134,857,000 after acquiring an additional 99,560 shares during the period. Finally, LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Financial Group by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 6,846 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $937,000 after acquiring an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at American Financial Group

In other American Financial Group news, Director Gregory G. Joseph acquired 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $121.00 per share, for a total transaction of $363,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 57,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,954,717. This trade represents a 5.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 14.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered American Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $164.00 to $144.00 in a report on Friday, February 7th.

American Financial Group Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of American Financial Group stock opened at $131.45 on Tuesday. American Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $118.97 and a 1 year 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $127.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $133.79. The company has a market capitalization of $11.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.44 and a beta of 0.79.

American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The insurance provider reported $3.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by ($0.03). American Financial Group had a return on equity of 20.30% and a net margin of 10.66%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that American Financial Group, Inc. will post 10.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a special dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $2.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. American Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.27%.

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.