Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts have given Aflac Incorporated an average recommendation of "Hold", with two analysts rating it as a sell, eight as hold, and three as buy. The average 12-month price target is approximately $109.15.
• Aflac's Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program, allowing the company to buy back 100 million shares, indicating that its leadership believes the stock may be undervalued.
• Despite a revenue decline of 19% year-over-year, Aflac reported earnings of $1.78 per share, surpassing analysts' expectations of $1.71 during its last quarterly earnings announcement.

Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Hold" by the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have assigned a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $109.1538.

A number of research firms recently commented on AFL. Evercore ISI reiterated an "underperform" rating and set a $106.00 price target (up previously from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Aflac from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Barclays set a $98.00 price objective on Aflac and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $102,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at $2,575,019.85. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aflac

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the first quarter worth approximately $2,070,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the first quarter valued at approximately $551,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac by 121.9% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its position in shares of Aflac by 11.8% in the second quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 32,982 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,478,000 after buying an additional 3,484 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,626,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Aflac Trading Down 0.1%

Aflac stock opened at $110.59 on Friday. Aflac has a 52 week low of $96.95 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.08, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $106.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $105.38.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.07. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 15.32%.The business had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.83 earnings per share. Aflac's quarterly revenue was down 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Aflac will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, August 12th that permits the company to buyback 100,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac's payout ratio is currently 52.61%.

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.

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