Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.23 EPS

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) released its earnings results on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.23, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.10 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 27.67%. Aflac’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.58 EPS.

Aflac Stock Up 6.6 %

AFL stock traded up $6.27 during trading on Thursday, hitting $101.65. 7,183,356 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,220,250. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $90.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.19, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.95. Aflac has a 52-week low of $72.78 and a 52-week high of $104.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. Aflac’s payout ratio is 22.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $5,381,329.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Aflac news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total value of $1,957,403.66. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 61,522 shares in the company, valued at $5,381,329.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total value of $50,904.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 27,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,337,342. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AFL shares. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Aflac from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Aflac from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.69.

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.