American Financial Group, Inc. to Issue Special Dividend of $2.00 (NYSE:AFG)

American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG) declared a special dividend on Friday, February 28th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of 2.00 per share by the insurance provider on Friday, March 28th. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th.

American Financial Group has increased its dividend payment by an average of 12.5% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 19 years. American Financial Group has a dividend payout ratio of 27.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect American Financial Group to earn $11.68 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 27.4%.

American Financial Group Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:AFG opened at $126.24 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.94 and a beta of 0.83. American Financial Group has a 1-year low of $118.97 and a 1-year high of $150.19. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $131.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $134.45.

American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 20.30% and a net margin of 10.66%. On average, research analysts anticipate that American Financial Group will post 10.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AFG shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of American Financial Group from $135.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of American Financial Group from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of American Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $164.00 to $144.00 in a research note on Friday, February 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Gregory G. Joseph acquired 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $121.00 per share, with a total value of $363,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 57,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,954,717. This trade represents a 5.51 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 14.50% 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.