BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Raises Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 58.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 104,703 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,420 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Aflac were worth $9,351,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 0.5% in the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 21,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,942,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in Aflac by 5.6% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 87,695 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,832,000 after buying an additional 4,615 shares in the last quarter. Certified Advisory Corp lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 0.9% during the second quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 42,302 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,778,000 after buying an additional 378 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,186,000. Finally, Edge Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $685,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $109.69 on Thursday. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $74.89 and a 12 month high of $111.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $61.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $103.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.41.

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

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.08%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total transaction of $197,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,796,552.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Barclays assumed coverage on Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Aflac from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.50.

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.