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

Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the fourteen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have given a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $92.50.

AFL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Barclays assumed coverage on Aflac in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Aflac from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 18,158 shares in the company, valued at $1,796,552.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aflac

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Aflac by 22.6% during 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 period. Southeast Asset Advisors Inc. grew its position in Aflac by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Southeast Asset Advisors Inc. now owns 139,164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,481,000 after acquiring an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $155,140,000 after purchasing an additional 113,226 shares in the last quarter. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at $12,546,000. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in Aflac by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 633,472 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,262,000 after buying an additional 44,875 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $107.92 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $102.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market capitalization of $61.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.95. Aflac has a 52 week low of $74.89 and a 52 week high of $111.14.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $5.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.10 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 28.35% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.58 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Aflac will post 6.75 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. Aflac’s payout ratio is 22.08%.

Aflac Company Profile

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.