American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG) to Issue Dividend of $4.00

American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG) announced a dividend on Tuesday, November 5th, NASDAQ reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid 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 raised its dividend payment by an average of 12.0% per year 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 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 Price Performance

NYSE AFG traded up $6.32 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $133.76. 578,278 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 301,396. The company 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 12-month low of $107.11 and a 12-month high of $138.81. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $133.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The insurance provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.51 by ($0.20). American Financial Group had a return on equity of 21.16% and a net margin of 11.06%. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.45 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that American Financial Group will post 10.98 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of American Financial Group from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company 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.