Essex Financial Services Inc. Purchases Shares of 3,841 American International Group, Inc. (NYSE:AIG)

Essex Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American International Group, Inc. (NYSE:AIG) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 3,841 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $260,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in American International Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of American International Group during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. CNB Bank bought a new stake in shares of American International Group during the 3rd quarter worth $42,000. SouthState Corp boosted its stake in shares of American International Group by 41.7% during the 3rd quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 737 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American International Group by 41.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 788 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. 90.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American International Group Price Performance

NYSE AIG opened at $78.48 on Friday. American International Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.95 and a fifty-two week high of $79.70. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $75.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $53.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.02.

American International Group (NYSE:AIG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The insurance provider reported $1.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.11. American International Group had a return on equity of 10.68% and a net margin of 9.98%. The company had revenue of $12.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.04 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that American International Group, Inc. will post 6.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American International Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a positive change from American International Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. American International Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.49%.

American International Group declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the insurance provider to purchase up to 19.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on American International Group from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on American International Group in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $78.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on American International Group from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group raised their price objective on American International Group from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on American International Group from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at American International Group

In other American International Group news, CEO Peter Zaffino sold 333,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.87, for a total transaction of $25,264,710.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 505,420 shares in the company, valued at $38,346,215.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other American International Group news, Director John C. Inglis acquired 659 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $75.39 per share, for a total transaction of $49,682.01. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,682.01. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Peter Zaffino sold 333,000 shares of American International Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.87, for a total value of $25,264,710.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 505,420 shares in the company, valued at $38,346,215.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

About American International Group

American International Group, Inc offers insurance products for commercial, institutional, and individual customers in North America and internationally. It operates through three segments: General Insurance, Life and Retirement, and Other Operations. The General Insurance segment provides commercial and industrial property insurance, including business interruption and package insurance that cover exposure to made and natural disasters; general liability, environmental, commercial automobile liability, workers' compensation, excess casualty, and crisis management insurance products; and professional liability insurance.