American National Declares Quarterly Dividend

GALVESTON, Texas, July 29, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- American National Insurance Company's (Nasdaq:ANAT) board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of 77 cents per share on its common stock, CUSIP #028591-105, payable September 17, 2010 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on September 3, 2010. This is the 100^th consecutive year that dividends have been paid to stockholders.

American National Insurance Company (American National), headquartered in Galveston, Texas was founded in 1905 and is licensed to conduct the business of insurance in all states except New York.    American National has been evaluated and assigned the following ratings by nationally recognized rating agencies: A (Excellent) by A.M. Best Company, third highest of 13 active company ratings noted as "An excellent ability to meet their ongoing insurance obligations" and AA- (Very Strong) by Standard & Poor's, fourth highest of 20 active company ratings noted as "Very strong financial security characteristics, differing only slightly from those rated higher."

American National is a family of companies that has, on a consolidated GAAP basis, $20.7 billion in assets, $17.2 billion in liabilities and $3.5 billion in stockholders' equity. The American National family of companies offers a broad line of products and services, which include life insurance, annuities, health insurance, credit insurance, pension products and property and casualty insurance for personal lines, agribusiness, and targeted commercial exposures. American National's major insurance subsidiaries include American National Life Insurance Company of Texas, Standard Life and Accident Insurance Company, Garden State Life Insurance Company, American National Life Insurance Company of New York, American National Property and Casualty Company, Farm Family Life Insurance Company, Farm Family Casualty Insurance Company and United Farm Family Insurance Company.

The American National Insurance Company logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=7772

For more information, including company news and investor relations information, visit the company's web site at www.anico.com.

CONTACT:  American National Insurance Company           Steve Pavlicek           (409) 766-6447