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. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of 2.00 per share by the insurance provider on Friday, March 28th. The ex-dividend date 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 annually for the last 19 consecutive years. American Financial Group has a dividend payout ratio of 27.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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 Up 1.8 %

AFG stock opened at $127.25 on Friday. American Financial Group has a 1-year low of $118.97 and a 1-year high of $150.19. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $129.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $134.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.04 and a beta of 0.79.

American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) last posted 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 return on equity of 20.30% and a net margin of 10.66%. Equities analysts forecast that American Financial Group will post 10.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AFG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut American Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $164.00 to $144.00 in a research note on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on American Financial Group from $135.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th.

Insider Activity at American Financial Group

In other news, Director Gregory G. Joseph acquired 3,000 shares of American Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was bought at an average price of $121.00 per share, for a total transaction of $363,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 57,477 shares in the company, valued at $6,954,717. The trade was a 5.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 14.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.