Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Raises Dividend to $0.64 Per Share

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 17th will be given a dividend of $0.64 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, March 1st. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 17th. This is a 4.9% increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61.

Aflac has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.2% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 44 years. Aflac has a payout ratio of 34.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Aflac to earn $7.76 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.44 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 31.4%.

Aflac Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:AFL traded down $0.70 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $126.41. 1,216,492 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,226,950. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $118.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $116.48. Aflac has a twelve month low of $105.76 and a twelve month high of $131.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.43, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.63. Aflac had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 12.82%. The firm had revenue of $4.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.49 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 31.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Aflac will post 7.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Aflac

Aflac Incorporated is an insurance company that provides supplemental health and life insurance to individuals and businesses. Its products are designed to help customers manage expenses that may not be covered by major medical insurance, including costs associated with accidents, cancer, critical illness and hospital stays. The company operates primarily in the United States and Japan. In the U.S., Aflac offers workplace benefits such as accident, disability, dental, vision and life insurance. In Japan, it provides products including cancer, medical and life insurance.