ProShare Advisors LLC Has $32.53 Million Stock Holdings in American Financial Group, Inc. $AFG

ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG) by 13.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 257,725 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 30,050 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Financial Group were worth $32,527,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AFG. American Financial Group Inc. 401 K Retirement & Savings Plan grew its stake in shares of American Financial Group by 0.9% in the first quarter. American Financial Group Inc. 401 K Retirement & Savings Plan now owns 2,616,928 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $343,707,000 after purchasing an additional 23,228 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $331,071,000 after buying an additional 2,012,027 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 14,265 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of American Financial Group by 2.4% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 820,955 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $107,824,000 after buying an additional 18,886 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of American Financial Group by 8.3% during the first 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded American Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $142.00 price target on shares of American Financial Group in a research report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of American Financial Group from $130.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of American Financial Group from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of American Financial Group from $127.00 to $124.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $137.00.

Insider Transactions at American Financial Group

In other news, CFO Brian S. Hertzman sold 1,777 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.51, for a total value of $253,240.27. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 11,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,610,363. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Stephen Craig Lindner, Jr. sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.31, for a total value of $1,343,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 326,730 shares in the company, valued at $43,883,106.30. This represents a 2.97% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 17.40% of the company’s stock.

American Financial Group Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE AFG opened at $142.32 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. American Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.73 and a 52 week high of $150.19. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $138.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $131.01. The company has a market cap of $11.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.64 and a beta of 0.78.

American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The insurance provider reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.34. American Financial Group had a net margin of 9.21% and a return on equity of 17.41%. The business had revenue of $2.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.31 EPS. American Financial Group’s revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that American Financial Group, Inc. will post 10.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a special dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be given a dividend of $2.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. American Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 36.97%.

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.