American International Group, Inc. (NYSE:AIG) Short Interest Update

American International Group, Inc. (NYSE:AIG) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,170,000 shares, a growth of 12.3% from the May 31st total of 9,060,000 shares. Approximately 1.5% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 4,090,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder International Group American sold 30,000,000 shares of American International Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.20, for a total transaction of $876,000,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 294,203,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,590,746,171.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of American International Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AIG. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its position in American International Group by 12.5% during the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 66,344 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,020,000 after buying an additional 7,388 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of American International Group by 37.2% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 556,119 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $33,700,000 after purchasing an additional 150,772 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its position in shares of American International Group by 9.5% in the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 319,328 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $19,351,000 after purchasing an additional 27,709 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of American International Group by 11.7% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,402 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $812,000 after purchasing an additional 1,406 shares during the period. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of American International Group by 320.6% in the third quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,239 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,105,000 after purchasing an additional 13,903 shares during the period. 90.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on AIG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $87.00 price objective on shares of American International Group in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of American International Group from $81.00 to $78.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of American International Group from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of American International Group from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of American International Group from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American International Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $81.38.

American International Group Stock Performance

Shares of AIG traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $75.61. 869,679 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,123,024. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $76.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.42. American International Group has a 1 year low of $56.88 and a 1 year high of $80.83. The stock has a market cap of $50.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.08.

American International Group (NYSE:AIG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. 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 net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 10.54%. The firm had revenue of $12.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that American International Group will post 7.02 earnings per share for the current year.

American International Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. This is a positive change from American International Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. American International Group’s payout ratio is 23.88%.

American International Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the insurance provider to purchase up to 19.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.