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 is Friday, November 15th. This is a positive change from American Financial Group’s previous dividend of $1.00.

American Financial Group has raised its dividend payment by an average of 12.0% annually 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. Equities 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 Trading Up 5.0 %

AFG traded up $6.32 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $133.76. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 578,278 shares, compared to its average volume of 301,396. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.40 and a beta of 0.79. American Financial Group has a twelve month low of $107.11 and a twelve month high of $138.81. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $133.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $129.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The insurance provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. American Financial Group had a net margin of 11.06% and a return on equity of 21.16%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.45 EPS. Analysts anticipate that American Financial Group will post 10.98 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of American Financial Group from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research 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.