Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.63 EPS

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $2.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.63, FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 26.91% and a return on equity of 13.27%.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL stock traded up $1.25 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $125.29. 2,565,475 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,241,289. Aflac has a twelve month low of $105.76 and a twelve month high of $130.22. The firm has a market cap of $62.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.55. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $117.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $116.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.12.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 113,611 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.53, for a total value of $13,466,311.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 50,134,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,942,422,016.37. This trade represents a 0.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 713,662 shares of company stock valued at $83,323,978 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on AFL shares. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Aflac from $137.00 to $133.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $103.00 target price for the company. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $101.00 price objective (up from $99.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 price target (up from $101.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $117.20.

Key Headlines Impacting Aflac

Here are the key news stories impacting Aflac this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Aflac reported third-quarter adjusted EPS of $2.43, above analyst estimates of about $1.80–$1.81. The earnings beat is the clearest favorable signal in the latest news. Aflac third-quarter results
• Neutral Sentiment: The company also reported GAAP net earnings of $303 million, or $0.61 per diluted share, amid portfolio repositioning. This is substantially below adjusted EPS, so investors may look to the release for details on the items behind the difference. Aflac earnings and portfolio repositioning
• Neutral Sentiment: Aflac declared a fourth-quarter dividend alongside its results, supporting its income-return profile; the supplied announcement did not specify the dividend amount. Dividend announcement
• Negative Sentiment: Quiver’s six-month insider-trading tally showed 159 open-market sales and no purchases. That may be a cautionary signal, though the activity spans several months and does not by itself establish a near-term outlook. Aflac earnings and trading data

About Aflac

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) is an insurance company specializing in supplemental health and life insurance. Through its policies, the company helps individuals and families manage expenses that may not be fully covered by major medical insurance, including deductibles, copayments and other out-of-pocket costs.

Aflac offers products such as accident, cancer, critical illness, hospital indemnity, dental and vision, disability, life and long-term care insurance. Many of its supplemental policies provide cash benefits directly to policyholders, who can generally use the funds according to their individual needs.