Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $88.08.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total transaction of $1,957,403.66. Following the sale, the director now owns 61,522 shares in the company, valued at $5,381,329.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total value of $197,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,158 shares in the company, valued at $1,796,552.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total transaction of $1,957,403.66. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,381,329.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Aflac

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Eudaimonia Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 234.6% in the fourth quarter. Eudaimonia Partners LLC now owns 10,448 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $862,000 after buying an additional 7,325 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 22.6% in the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 86,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,096,000 after buying an additional 15,855 shares during the last quarter. Southeast Asset Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Southeast Asset Advisors Inc. now owns 139,164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,481,000 after buying an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Aflac by 6.7% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,806,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $155,140,000 after purchasing an additional 113,226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. bought a new stake in Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at $12,546,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Aflac stock opened at $101.21 on Friday. Aflac has a 12-month low of $72.78 and a 12-month high of $104.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.95. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $91.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.23. Aflac had a net margin of 28.35% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The company had revenue of $5.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.10 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.58 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Aflac will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.08%.

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.