American Financial Group, Inc. (AFG) To Go Ex-Dividend on March 17th

American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG) declared a special dividend on Friday, February 28th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of 2.00 per share by the insurance provider on Friday, March 28th. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th.

American Financial Group has increased its dividend by an average of 12.5% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 19 years. American Financial Group has a payout ratio of 27.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect American Financial Group to earn $11.68 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 27.4%.

American Financial Group Price Performance

AFG opened at $126.24 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $10.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.94 and a beta of 0.83. American Financial Group has a fifty-two week low of $118.97 and a fifty-two week high of $150.19. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $131.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $134.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AFG shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of American Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $164.00 to $144.00 in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of American Financial Group from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target 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.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Financial Group

In related news, Director Gregory G. Joseph acquired 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 purchase, the director now directly owns 57,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,954,717. The trade was a 5.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 14.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Financial Group Company 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.