Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC Sells 409 Shares of American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG)

Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 44,540 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 409 shares during the quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Financial Group were worth $6,099,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in American Financial Group by 301.1% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 702 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 527 shares in the last quarter. PUREfi Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth about $262,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of American Financial Group by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 12,040 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,649,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in American Financial Group by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,051 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,663,000 after buying an additional 4,966 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Preferred LLC bought a new position in American Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $425,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on American Financial Group from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of American Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $164.00 to $144.00 in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of American Financial Group from $135.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th.

American Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of American Financial Group stock opened at $123.28 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $10.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.66 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $134.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $134.77. American Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $118.97 and a one year high of $150.19.

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

American Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th were paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 14th. American Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 30.27%.

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.