Company Update: American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG) – Icahn again urges AIG to become a "simpler" company

[Reuters] – Activist investor Carl Icahn took another swing at American International Group Inc on Tuesday, saying the only “sensible” option for the insurer was to split up. Tensions have been mounting between AIG Chief Executive Peter Hancock and Icahn over the billionaire’s suggestion in October that the company should split into three – an idea Hancock promptly rebuffed. The move would return more cash to shareholders, Icahn had said, helping AIG rid itself of the regulatory burden of being a systemically important financial institution (SIFI), which require higher capital cushions. Read more on this. American International Group, Inc. (AIG) , valued at $69.47B, opened this morning at $56.53. During today’s session, AIG traded between $55.84 to $57.09 with a one year range of $48.68 to $64.93. Priced at 13.14x this year’s forecasted earnings, AIG shares are relatively inexpensive compared to the industry’s 13.30x forward p/e ratio. And for income investors, the company pays shareholders $1.12 per share annually in dividends, yielding 1.95%. Consensus earnings for the current quarter by the 22 sell-side analysts covering the stock is an estimate of $1.09 per share, which would be $0.12 better than the year-ago quarter and a $0.13 sequential decrease. In looking at the bigger picture, the full-year EPS estimate of $4.27 would be a $0.31 setback when compared to the previous year’s annual results. The quarterly earnings estimate is based on a consensus revenue forecast of the current quarter of $13.71 Billion. If realized, that would be a 63.80% increase over the year-ago quarter. More recently, Standpoint Research upgraded AIG from Hold to Buy (Jan 19, 2016). Previously, Standpoint Research downgraded AIG from Buy to Hold. The average price target for AIG shares is $68.11, which is 20.48% above where the stock opened this morning. See more in (NYSE:AIG) Similar Articles: Stock Update: American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG) – Carl Icahn Puts More Pressure On AIG, Plus 2 Other Activist Moves Company Update: American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG) – ASSA to Acquire AIG Operations in Central America Company Update: American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG) – A.M. Best Withdraws Ratings of The Fuji Fire & Marine Insurance Company, Limited and AIU Insurance Company, Ltd.