Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Boosts Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Key Points

• Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in Aflac by 169.0% during the first quarter, bringing its total holdings to approximately $20.75 million.
• Aflac's recent quarterly earnings report showed earnings per share of $1.78, beating estimates, but revenue decreased by 19.0% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.58 per share, with an annualized yield of 2.2%, set to be paid on September 2nd.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 169.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 186,590 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 117,224 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings in Aflac were worth $20,747,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Aflac by 12,313.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,504,067 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $167,237,000 after buying an additional 1,491,951 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Aflac by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,296,014 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $754,700,000 after purchasing an additional 1,357,753 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,250,905 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $543,154,000 after buying an additional 556,394 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth approximately $48,081,000. Finally, Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 133.2% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 758,424 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $84,329,000 after buying an additional 433,134 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL traded down $0.62 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $103.55. 3,231,283 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,432,755. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $96.95 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $102.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $104.88. The firm has a market cap of $55.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.83.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.83 earnings per share. Aflac's quarterly revenue was down 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AFL. Raymond James Financial cut their target price on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. UBS Group lowered 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 raised Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Barclays set a $98.00 price target on Aflac and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $108.23.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $7,496,045.28. This trade represents a 34.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total value of $102,570.00. Following the sale, the director owned 25,105 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,575,019.85. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 40,750 shares of company stock worth $4,300,075 over the last 90 days. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Company 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.