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

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have issued a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $102.67.

AFL has been the subject of several research reports. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total transaction of $2,558,529.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aflac

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Columbus Macro LLC raised its position in Aflac by 392.6% during the fourth quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 72,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,456,000 after acquiring an additional 57,450 shares in the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. raised its position in Aflac by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 3,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $410,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Optas LLC raised its position in Aflac by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Optas LLC now owns 2,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after acquiring an additional 451 shares in the last quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 4,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $470,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the period. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 1,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $104.82 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $105.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.23 billion, a PE ratio of 15.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.00. 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 has a 52-week low of $75.07 and a 52-week high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. Aflac’s revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 34.94%.

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.