Craig Lindner (Insider Trades), co-CEO and co-president of American Financial Group Inc. (AFG), sold 75,000 shares for $72.13 per share on Aug. 8. The total transaction was $5,409,750.
American Financial Group is a holding company based in Cincinnati. The company is engaged mainly in property and casualty insurance with a focus on specialized commericial products for businesses, and the sale of traditional fixed and fixed-indexed annuities. American Financial Group has a market cap of $6.4 billion.
The number and volume of American Financial Group insider sells decreased from 28 transactions totaling 836,128 shares to 14 transactions of 295,858 shares in 2013 and 2014. The number of American Financial Group insider sells increased the following year to 24 transactions totaling 691,610 shares. The dip in insider sells in 2014 corresponds to a decrease in month-end price.
Despite the upward trend of American Financial Group month-end price from 2013 to 2015, the comparison of the number of insider sells in 2013 and 2015 did not reflect the same trend. Including the aforementioned transaction, Lindner sold 1,002,541 shares of American Financial Group in 20 trades since 2013. Another American Financial Group insider, Director William Verity, sold 2,046 shares for $72.97 per share three days prior to Lindner’s most recent transaction. For more information about insider trades with American Financial Group, click here.
American Financial Group reported net earnings of $54 million, or 62 cents per share, in the second quarter. Net earnings decreased from $141 million, or $1.57 per share, reported by the company in the previous year’s second quarter. On the other hand, total revenues increased from $1.543 billion to $1.581 billion when comparing the same periods of time. Annual revenue increased 7.07% while annual net income decreased 0.91% since 2011.
American Financial Group announced a merger agreement with National Interstate Corporation (NATL, Financial) on July 25 to acquire all shares of National Interstate not currently owned by American Financial Group’s wholly owned subsidiary, Great American Insurance Company. National Interstate shareholders, excluding Great American, will receive $32 cash per share without interest and less than required withholding taxes.
The agreement includes a one-time dividend of 50 cents per share from National Interstate to its shareholders prior to the close of the merger. Including cost from the one-time special dividend, the purchase price is estimated to be $320 million. Lindner commented that American Financial Group’s priority is “capital management” and that the company will work to “find the highest and best use of capital to create long-term value” for shareholders.
According to GuruFocus.com information, American Financial Group has a business predictability rank of 2 out of 5 stars. For more information about business predictability rank, click here.
David Dreman (Trades, Portfolio) reduced his stake while Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio) increased his stake in the company during the first quarter. Dreman reduced his stake by 95.90%, selling 3,427 shares for an average price of $68.53Ă‚ per share. The total estimated gain of the holding since the third quarter of 2014 is 11%. Simons increased his stake in the company by 832.46%, acquiring 253,900 shares after raising his stake in the company by 43.19% in the previous quarter. The total estimated gain of the holding since the first quarter of 2015 is 8%. For more information about guru trades of American Financial Group, click here.
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