Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Purchased by Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 5.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 233,111 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,996 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $26,062,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 41.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the third quarter worth about $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AFL shares. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. UBS Group raised their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.93.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE AFL opened at $110.24 on Thursday. 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 Incorporated has a 12-month low of $75.07 and a 12-month high of $115.50. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $110.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $100.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.24 billion, a PE ratio of 16.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.96.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 previous year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 30.12%.

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.