Teacher Retirement System of Texas Acquires 4,562 Shares of American Financial Group, Inc. (AFG)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in shares of American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG) by 83.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,039 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,562 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in American Financial Group were worth $998,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of American Financial Group by 82.9% in the first quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 227,007 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $21,662,000 after buying an additional 102,874 shares during the last quarter. BTIM Corp. boosted its stake in shares of American Financial Group by 3.1% in the first quarter. BTIM Corp. now owns 105,104 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $10,029,000 after buying an additional 3,198 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of American Financial Group by 0.5% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 6,452 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $616,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Financial Group by 10,325.5% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,915,732 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $564,476,000 after buying an additional 5,858,989 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of American Financial Group by 344.2% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 108,798 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $10,811,000 after buying an additional 84,306 shares during the last quarter. 62.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Shares of American Financial Group, Inc. (AFG) opened at 101.66 on Friday. American Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.38 and a 12 month high of $105.58. The company has a market cap of $8.95 billion, a PE ratio of 11.46 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $102.00 and a 200-day moving average of $97.62.

American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The insurance provider reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.31. American Financial Group had a return on equity of 11.66% and a net margin of 11.89%. The business had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that American Financial Group, Inc. will post $6.80 earnings per share for the current year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 14th were given a dividend of $0.3125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 12th. This represents a $1.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. American Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.06%.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AFG shares. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of American Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $112.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, May 8th. BidaskClub cut shares of American Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 24th.

In other news, Director William W. Verity sold 1,773 shares of American Financial Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.26, for a total transaction of $175,987.98. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $509,700.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Carl H. Lindner III sold 95,405 shares of American Financial Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.68, for a total value of $9,414,565.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 327,169 shares of company stock valued at $32,890,665. Corporate insiders own 14.90% of the company’s stock.

American Financial Group Company Profile

American Financial Group, Inc (AFG) is a holding company engaged primarily in property and casualty insurance businesses. The Company, through Great American Insurance Group, focuses on commercial products for businesses, and is engaged in the sale of fixed and fixed-indexed annuities in the retail, financial institutions and education markets.