Quadrant Capital Group LLC Increases Stock Holdings in American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG)

Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG) by 51.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,596 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,554 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC’s holdings in American Financial Group were worth $629,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AFG. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of American Financial Group by 86.8% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 340 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in American Financial Group by 91.2% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 520 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in American Financial Group by 301.1% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 702 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American Financial Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $125,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of American Financial Group by 31.6% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $145,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Gregory G. Joseph acquired 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were purchased 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $6,954,717. The trade was a 5.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 14.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut 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 report on Friday, February 7th.

American Financial Group Stock Down 6.5 %

Shares of AFG opened at $121.78 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $10.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.52 and a beta of 0.59. American Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $118.97 and a 1 year high of $150.19. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $127.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $133.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

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

American Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. American Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 30.27%.

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.