Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.07), Zacks reports. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL traded up $1.11 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $104.19. 723,191 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,716,263. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $104.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $106.72. Aflac has a 12 month low of $77.01 and a 12 month high of $115.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.88 billion, a PE ratio of 15.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. Aflac’s payout ratio is 30.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AFL shares. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Barclays raised their target price on Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.43.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

About Aflac

Aflac Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, provides supplemental health and life insurance products. The company operates through Aflac Japan and Aflac U.S. segments. The Aflac Japan segment offers cancer, medical, nursing care, work leave, GIFT, and whole and term life insurance products, as well as WAYS and child endowment plans under saving type insurance products in Japan.