Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Receives $92.50 Consensus PT from Brokerages

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the fourteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $93.36.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup lifted their target price on Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Aflac from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th.

Aflac Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of AFL stock opened at $110.59 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Aflac has a 12-month low of $74.89 and a 12-month high of $111.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.95. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $104.15 and its 200 day moving average is $92.65.

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 company had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.10 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 28.35%. Aflac’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.58 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Aflac will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 18,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,796,552.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aflac

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 80.0% in the first quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Cedar Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at about $50,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.