Hengehold Capital Management LLC Buys 7,295 Shares of American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG)

Hengehold Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG) by 40.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,532 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,295 shares during the quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC’s holdings in American Financial Group were worth $3,485,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AFG. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Financial Group by 1.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,288,375 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $925,563,000 after buying an additional 81,293 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Financial Group by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,838,501 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $456,359,000 after buying an additional 191,269 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of American Financial Group by 7.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 838,468 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $93,632,000 after purchasing an additional 56,267 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of American Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth $97,304,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in American Financial Group by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 648,878 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $77,145,000 after buying an additional 18,945 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.37% of the company’s stock.

American Financial Group Price Performance

NYSE AFG traded down $2.91 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $122.54. 130,516 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 301,129. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $128.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $125.81. American Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $105.22 and a 1 year high of $137.71. The company has a market cap of $10.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.00 and a beta of 0.79.

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

American Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th were paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. American Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AFG. Citigroup lowered American Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $144.00 to $137.00 in a research note on Friday. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of American Financial Group from $129.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Financial Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.75.

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.