Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Invests $311,000 in American Financial Group, Inc. $AFG

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 2,462 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $311,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Financial Group Inc. 401 K Retirement & Savings Plan raised its holdings in shares of American Financial Group by 0.9% during the first quarter. American Financial Group Inc. 401 K Retirement & Savings Plan now owns 2,616,928 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $343,707,000 after buying an additional 23,228 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in American Financial Group by 395.5% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,520,714 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $331,071,000 after buying an additional 2,012,027 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in American Financial Group by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 983,398 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $129,147,000 after acquiring an additional 14,265 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in American Financial Group by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 820,955 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $107,824,000 after acquiring an additional 18,886 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in American Financial Group by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 707,682 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $92,947,000 after acquiring an additional 54,204 shares during the period. 64.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AFG shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on American Financial Group from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of American Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of American Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased 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 report on Tuesday, August 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $136.75.

American Financial Group Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE AFG opened at $131.57 on Friday. American Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.73 and a 12 month high of $150.19. The company has a market capitalization of $10.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.46 and a beta of 0.74. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $138.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $130.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.47.

American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The insurance provider reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. American Financial Group had a net margin of 9.21% and a return on equity of 17.41%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.56 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that American Financial Group, Inc. will post 10.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 15th were given a $0.88 dividend. This is a boost from American Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. American Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 38.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Financial Group news, Director Stephen Craig Lindner, Jr. sold 10,000 shares of American Financial Group 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 transaction, the director directly owned 326,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,883,106.30. The trade was a 2.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 17.40% of the company’s stock.

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.