American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG) to Issue $0.80 Quarterly Dividend

American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 2nd,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.80 per share by the insurance provider on Friday, January 24th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th.

American Financial Group has raised its dividend 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 payout ratio of 25.2% 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 Stock Performance

AFG stock opened at $129.96 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.91 billion, a PE ratio of 12.18 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $138.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $133.43. American Financial Group has a 12-month low of $115.64 and a 12-month high of $150.19.

American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The insurance provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.20). The company had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. American Financial Group had a net margin of 10.84% and a return on equity of 19.97%. American Financial Group’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.45 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that American Financial Group will post 10.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler increased their price target on American Financial Group from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of American Financial Group from $135.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of American Financial Group from $165.00 to $164.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday.

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.