Australian Foundation Investment Company (AFI) Stock Price, Fundamentals & Analysis

What AFI does

Australian Foundation Investment Company (AFI) is a publicly owned investment manager listed on the ASX. The firm invests in the public equity markets of Australia and New Zealand, focusing on value stocks across diversified industries. It benchmarks its portfolio against the S&P/ASX 200 Accumulation Index and uses fundamental analysis with a bottom-up research approach, conducted largely in-house. Founded in 1928 and headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, AFI is one of the longer-established active managers on the exchange. Investors interested in diversified Australian equity exposure may also look at peers such as GQG Partners (GQG), L1 Long Short Fund (LSF), or WAM Leaders (WLE).

Key numbers explained

• At 6.65 AUD per share, AFI sits near the lower end of its 52-week range of 6.33 – 7.91, and the stock is down 7% over the past year.
• The P/E ratio of 28.9 compares the current price to trailing earnings per share of 0.23 AUD. A higher P/E can indicate the market prices in future growth, but it is not directly comparable across sectors.
• The dividend yield of 3.98% means AFI distributes a meaningful share of its earnings to shareholders. The ex-dividend date is Aug 4, 2026. Notably, AFI pays out 113% of its earnings as dividends, which can signal that distributions exceed current profits.
• With a beta of 0.4, AFI has historically been less volatile than the broader market, a trait often associated with defensive or dividend-oriented stocks.
• The market capitalization of 8.17B AUD places AFI among the larger listed companies on the ASX.
• Revenue of 340.48M AUD grew 8.9% year over year, while a profit margin of 86.1% and an operating margin of 93.3% reflect strong profitability relative to revenue.
• A return on equity of 3.5% and a price-to-book ratio of 1 suggest the stock trades close to its book value.

What to watch

Because AFI is a value-oriented equity fund, its performance is tied to the composition and direction of the Australian and New Zealand share markets. Changes in benchmark indices like the S&P/ASX 200 can influence portfolio results. Dividend policy is a key factor: with payouts exceeding earnings at 113%, sustainability of distributions warrants attention. Sector allocation matters too, as AFI operates across diversified industries within Financial Services and beyond. Broader market sentiment, interest rate environments, and flows into active versus passive management are general factors that affect this kind of stock.