Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Has $615,000 Stake in American Financial Group, Inc. $AFG

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG) by 10.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,875 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 449 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Financial Group were worth $615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. American Financial Group Inc. 401 K Retirement & Savings Plan lifted its position in American Financial Group by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. American Financial Group Inc. 401 K Retirement & Savings Plan now owns 2,616,928 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $343,707,000 after acquiring an additional 23,228 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of American Financial Group by 395.5% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,520,714 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $331,071,000 after buying an additional 2,012,027 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of American Financial Group by 1.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 983,398 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $129,147,000 after buying an additional 14,265 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of American Financial Group by 2.4% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 820,955 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $107,824,000 after buying an additional 18,886 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of American Financial Group by 8.3% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 707,682 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $92,947,000 after buying an additional 54,204 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at American Financial Group

In other news, Director Stephen Craig Lindner, Jr. sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.31, for a total transaction of $1,343,100.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 326,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,883,106.30. This represents a 2.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 17.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of American Financial Group stock opened at $140.71 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.46 and a beta of 0.74. American Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $114.73 and a 1-year high of $150.19. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $138.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $129.87.

American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The insurance provider reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.77 billion. American Financial Group had a net margin of 9.21% and a return on equity of 17.41%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.56 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that American Financial Group, Inc. will post 10.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. This is an increase from American Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. American Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 38.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of American Financial Group from $127.00 to $124.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of American Financial Group from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of American Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of American Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $136.75.

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.