American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG) to Issue Dividend Increase – $4.00 Per Share

American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG) announced a dividend on Tuesday, November 5th, NASDAQ reports. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of 4.00 per share by the insurance provider on Tuesday, November 26th. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This is a boost from American Financial Group’s previous dividend of $1.00.

American Financial Group has increased its dividend payment by an average of 12.0% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 19 years. American Financial Group has a dividend payout ratio of 26.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect American Financial Group to earn $11.69 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 Price Performance

AFG traded up $6.32 on Wednesday, reaching $133.76. The stock had a trading volume of 578,278 shares, compared to its average volume of 301,396. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $133.93 and a 200-day moving average of $129.75. American Financial Group has a fifty-two week low of $107.11 and a fifty-two week high of $138.81. The company has a market capitalization of $11.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.40 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The insurance provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.51 by ($0.20). American Financial Group had a net margin of 11.06% and a return on equity of 21.16%. The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.45 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Financial Group will post 10.98 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on American Financial Group from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th.

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.