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

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

American Financial Group has raised its dividend by an average of 12.0% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 18 consecutive 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

Shares of AFG traded down $0.11 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $122.91. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 290,167 shares, compared to its average volume of 305,234. The company has a market cap of $10.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.78 and a beta of 0.79. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $128.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $125.96. American Financial Group has a 52-week low of $105.22 and a 52-week high of $137.71.

American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The insurance provider reported $2.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.70 by $0.06. The firm 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 last year, the firm earned $2.89 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that American Financial Group will post 10.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lowered shares of American Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $144.00 to $137.00 in a research report on Friday. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of American Financial Group from $129.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Amy Y. Murray acquired 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $125.17 per share, with a total value of $150,204.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 1,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $150,204. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 14.50% of the company’s stock.

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.