Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Receives Buy (B-) Rating from Weiss Ratings

Key Points

• Aflac's stock has been restated with a "buy (B-)" rating by Weiss Ratings, indicating analysts' positive outlook on the company's performance.
• The company's recent quarterly earnings showcased a reported EPS of $1.78, surpassing analysts' estimates, although revenue fell short of expectations and was down 19% year-over-year.
• Aflac's Board of Directors recently approved a share buyback plan allowing the company to repurchase 100 million shares, suggesting that management believes the stock is undervalued.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy (b-)" rating restated by stock analysts at Weiss Ratings in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on AFL. Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating and issued a $102.00 price target (up previously from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI reiterated an "underperform" rating and issued a $106.00 price target (up previously from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $109.54.

Aflac Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of AFL stock traded down $0.48 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $112.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 502,238 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,221,483. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. The company has a market capitalization of $60.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.86. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $106.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $105.46. Aflac has a 1-year low of $96.95 and a 1-year high of $115.44.

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

Aflac announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $102,570.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 25,105 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,575,019.85. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aflac

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the second quarter worth $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 1,526.7% in the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 244 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the first quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Hilltop National Bank acquired a new position in Aflac in the second quarter worth $32,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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