American Financial Group, Inc. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.71 (NYSE:AFG)

American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, July 1st, NASDAQ reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be given a dividend of 0.71 per share by the insurance provider on Thursday, July 25th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th.

American Financial Group has increased its dividend payment by an average of 12.0% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 18 years. American Financial Group has a payout ratio of 23.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect American Financial Group to earn $11.63 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.84 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 24.4%.

American Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE AFG opened at $122.91 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $128.13 and a 200-day moving average of $125.96. American Financial Group has a 1-year low of $105.22 and a 1-year high of $137.71. The firm has a market cap of $10.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.76 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The insurance provider reported $2.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.70 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. American Financial Group had a net margin of 11.03% and a return on equity of 21.34%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.89 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that American Financial Group will post 10.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on AFG. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of American Financial Group from $129.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Citigroup downgraded shares of American Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $144.00 to $137.00 in a research note on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.75.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Amy Y. Murray acquired 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 28th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $125.17 per share, for a total transaction of $150,204.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 1,200 shares in the company, valued at $150,204. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 14.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.