American Financial Group, Inc. Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.80 (NYSE:AFG)

American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 1st, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.80 per share by the insurance provider on Friday, April 25th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.42%.

American Financial Group has raised its dividend by an average of 12.5% per year 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 27.4% indicating that 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 Stock Performance

Shares of AFG opened at $132.19 on Wednesday. American Financial Group has a 52 week low of $118.97 and a 52 week high of $150.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market cap of $11.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.51 and a beta of 0.79. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $127.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $133.77.

American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The insurance provider reported $3.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 research analysts anticipate that American Financial Group will post 10.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at American Financial Group

In related news, Director Gregory G. Joseph acquired 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $121.00 per share, with a total value of $363,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 57,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,954,717. This trade represents a 5.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 14.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of American Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $164.00 to $144.00 in a report on Friday, February 7th.

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.