American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.20 EPS

American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) posted its earnings results on Tuesday. The insurance provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.51 by ($0.20), Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. American Financial Group had a return on equity of 21.16% and a net margin of 11.06%. The company’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.45 earnings per share.

American Financial Group Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of AFG stock traded up $3.66 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $131.10. 129,088 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 299,337. American Financial Group has a 52-week low of $107.11 and a 52-week high of $138.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.58 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $133.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $129.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.46.

American Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were paid a $0.80 dividend. This is a boost from American Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. American Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 30.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on American Financial Group from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th.

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.