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

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twelve analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $112.2727.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AFL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Evercore raised shares of Aflac from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Barclays set a $99.00 target price on shares of Aflac and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Aflac from $116.00 to $111.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $115.40 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market cap of $58.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.10, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.61. Aflac has a 52 week low of $96.95 and a 52 week high of $119.81. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $114.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $111.87.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. Aflac’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.66 EPS. Research analysts predict that Aflac will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were issued a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 166,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.38, for a total transaction of $18,655,080.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 51,723,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,812,641,978. The trade was a 0.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 918,456 shares of company stock valued at $104,689,311. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aflac

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AFL. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 64.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after acquiring an additional 5,708 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $455,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at $280,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 11.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 150,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,854,000 after acquiring an additional 15,105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 11,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,261,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Company Profile

Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac’s product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.

Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.