Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analyst consensus on Aflac is “Hold.” Among 14 covering firms, seven rate the stock a hold, three rate it a sell, three recommend buying, and one gives a strong-buy rating; the average price target is $116.62.
• Aflac reported quarterly EPS of $1.75, narrowly missing estimates, while revenue of $4.22 billion exceeded expectations. Revenue declined 1% year over year, and analysts forecast full-year EPS of $7.04.
• The company maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share, equivalent to $2.44 annually and a 2.1% yield. Institutional investors own 67.44% of Aflac, with BlackRock and other major firms recently building positions.

Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the fourteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $116.6154.

AFL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating and set a $108.00 target price (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Friday, July 10th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $124.00 price target (up from $114.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $103.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company set a $122.00 price objective on shares of Aflac and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Aflac from $117.00 to $116.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th.

Aflac Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $116.64 on Friday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $120.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $116.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12. The company has a market capitalization of $58.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.50, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.59. Aflac has a 1-year low of $105.43 and a 1-year high of $130.22.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $4.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.11 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 26.91%.The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.78 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Aflac will post 7.04 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 19th. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.15%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 27,845 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.71, for a total value of $3,249,789.95. Following the sale, the insider owned 50,898,490 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,940,362,767.90. The trade was a 0.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 328,315 shares of company stock worth $38,561,442. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,093,787,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $420,078,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Aflac during the second quarter worth approximately $404,639,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Aflac during the second quarter worth approximately $298,418,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Aflac in the second quarter worth approximately $244,516,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Aflac Company Profile

Aflac Incorporated is an insurance company that provides supplemental health and life insurance products. Its coverage is designed to help policyholders manage expenses that may not be fully covered by major medical insurance, including costs associated with accidents, illness, hospitalization, disability and critical illness.

Through its U.S. operations, Aflac markets policies to individuals, businesses and employees through workplace benefit programs, independent agents and brokers. The company is also a major provider of supplemental insurance in Japan, where it offers products focused primarily on cancer, medical and income-support coverage.

Founded in 1955 in Columbus, Georgia, as American Family Life Assurance Company, the business adopted the name Aflac in 1990.

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