Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $116.6154.

AFL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $138.00 target price (up from $130.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $122.00 price target on shares of Aflac and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $124.00 price target (up from $114.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th.

Aflac Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $116.64 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $120.74 and its 200-day moving average is $116.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.48 billion, a PE ratio of 12.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Aflac has a 12-month low of $105.43 and a 12-month high of $130.22.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.01). Aflac had a net margin of 26.91% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The company had revenue of $4.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Aflac will post 7.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 19th. Aflac’s payout ratio is 26.15%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 13,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.74, for a total value of $1,587,664.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 50,570,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,903,657,372.60. This trade represents a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 328,315 shares of company stock valued at $38,561,442 in the last ninety days. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Employees Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at $3,743,000. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. acquired a new position in Aflac during the second quarter worth $6,630,000. Atlas Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Aflac during the first quarter worth $1,802,000. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in Aflac by 135.5% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 142,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,599,000 after buying an additional 81,803 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Callan Family Office LLC bought a new position in Aflac during the second quarter valued at about $2,546,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aflac Company Profile

Aflac Incorporated is an insurance company that provides supplemental health and life insurance products. Its coverage is designed to help policyholders manage expenses that may not be fully covered by major medical insurance, including costs associated with accidents, illness, hospitalization, disability and critical illness.

Through its U.S. operations, Aflac markets policies to individuals, businesses and employees through workplace benefit programs, independent agents and brokers. The company is also a major provider of supplemental insurance in Japan, where it offers products focused primarily on cancer, medical and income-support coverage.

Founded in 1955 in Columbus, Georgia, as American Family Life Assurance Company, the business adopted the name Aflac in 1990.