Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Has $58.18 Million Stake in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Aflac Incorporated by 53.6% in Q1, owning 523,236 shares valued at approximately $58.18 million.
• Aflac's board has authorized a share repurchase plan for up to 100 million outstanding shares, indicating confidence in the company's stock valuation.
• The company will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.58 per share on September 2, representing an annualized yield of 2.2% and a payout ratio of 52.61%.

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 53.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 523,236 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 182,631 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.10% of Aflac worth $58,179,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. NorthRock Partners LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 6,519 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $725,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 24.4% in the 1st quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 495 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 6,653 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $711,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Optas LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Optas LLC now owns 2,949 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $328,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in Aflac by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 30,879 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,433,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the director directly owned 25,105 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,575,019.85. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total value of $3,906,830.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 70,992 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,496,045.28. This represents a 34.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI restated an "underperform" rating and set a $106.00 price objective (up from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday. Barclays set a $98.00 price target on Aflac and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Aflac from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $109.15.

Aflac Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE AFL traded up $0.39 on Monday, reaching $105.77. The company had a trading volume of 1,771,742 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,485,940. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $96.95 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The stock's 50 day moving average is $102.56 and its 200-day moving average is $104.81. The stock has a market cap of $56.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.98, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

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

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

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.61%.

Aflac 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.