Back to top

Image: Bigstock

American Financial (AFG) on Growth Track: Time to Invest?

Read MoreHide Full Article

Shares of American Financial Group, Inc. (AFG - Free Report) gained 9.21% year to date, outperforming the Zacks categorized Property and Casualty industry’s growth of 6.22%. We expect the stock to retain its momentum on the back of a number of positives such as premium growth, favorable combined ratio and solid capital position.

 



American Financial is actively involved in start-ups and small-to-medium sized acquisitions and product launches. Therefore, we expect such strategic initiatives to help the company boost its inorganic growth portfolio, which in turn, should drive the overall improvement in the company’s results.

Notably, management projects Specialty P&C net premiums written to grow 2–6% in 2017. Of this, property and transportation group is estimated to generate net written premiums in the range of flat to an increase of 3%, while specialty casualty group is likely to display net written premium growth of 5–9%. Net written premiums in specialty financial group are projected in the range of flat to an increase of 4%.

Further, the Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) property and casualty (P&C) insurer’s combined ratio has been better than the industry average for 26 out of the last 28 years. This trend is expected to continue as the company estimates combined ratio between 92% and 94% in 2017.

Moreover, American Financial boasts a robust capital and financial position. The company has displayed intelligent capital deployment in 2016. It increased its quarterly dividend by 12% as well as paid special dividend of $1.00 per share in the year. Over the last five years, the company has returned approximately $1.7 billion to shareholders. Also, the company expects to continue increasing its excess capital through 2017 and intends to retain about $200–$300 million of the excess capital to maintain flexibility for any opportunity that may arise in the future.

Furthermore, valuation at the current level is attractive as the stock is trading at a forward P/E ratio of 15.4, a 15.8% discount to the industry average of 18.3. Further, American Financial’s expected long-term earnings growth is pegged at 8.00%.

Other Stocks to Consider

Investors interested in other stocks from the same space include Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (SIGI - Free Report) , Argo Group International Holdings, Ltd. and The Progressive Corporation (PGR - Free Report) . Each of these stocks sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Selective Insurance provides insurance products and services in the United States. The company delivered a positive surprise in one of the last four quarters but with an average negative surprise of 4.53%.

Argo Group International Holdings underwrites specialty insurance and reinsurance products in the property and casualty market worldwide. The company delivered positive surprises in all of the last four quarters with an average beat of 36.54%.

The Progressive Corporation offers personal and commercial P&C insurance, and other specialty P&C insurance and related services primarily in the United States. The company delivered a positive surprise in two of the last four quarters with an average beat of 1.32%.

More Stock News: 8 Companies Verge on Apple-Like Run

Did you miss Apple's 9X stock explosion after they launched their iPhone in 2007? Now 2017 looks to be a pivotal year to get in on another emerging technology expected to rock the market. Demand could soar from almost nothing to $42 billion by 2025. Reports suggest it could save 10 million lives per decade which could in turn save $200 billion in U.S. healthcare costs. A bonus Zacks Special Report names this breakthrough and the 8 best stocks to exploit it. Like Apple in 2007, these companies are already strong and coiling for potential mega-gains. Click to see them right now >>

Published in