City Holding Co. Grows Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• City Holding Co. has increased its stake in Aflac by 5.5%, owning a total of 56,347 shares valued at approximately $5.94 million as of the latest reporting period.
• Aflac's quarterly earnings showed an EPS of $1.78, beating estimates, but the company experienced a 19% drop in revenue year-over-year.
• The company's Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program allowing the repurchase of up to 100 million shares, indicating confidence in the stock's current valuation.

City Holding Co. raised its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 5.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 56,347 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,926 shares during the period. City Holding Co.'s holdings in Aflac were worth $5,942,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AFL. AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new position in Aflac in the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 121.9% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise bought a new stake in Aflac during the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Aflac in the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Aflac by 90.8% in the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 330 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AFL shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Wall Street Zen raised Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $109.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $2,575,019.85. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $111.36 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.25, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.85. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $105.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.25. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $96.95 and a 12 month high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11.

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, beating 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 firm had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

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

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

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.

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