Guinness Asset Management LTD Decreases Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• Guinness Asset Management LTD reduced its stake in Aflac by 17.0%, now holding approximately $220.93 million worth of shares, making Aflac the 9th largest position in its investment portfolio.
• Aflac's Q2 earnings showed an EPS of $1.78, surpassing estimates, but revenue fell short of expectations at $4.16 billion, marking a 19.0% decline from the previous year.
• Aflac has initiated a stock repurchase plan allowing the buyback of up to 100 million shares, typically indicating that the company believes its shares are undervalued.

Guinness Asset Management LTD trimmed its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 17.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,986,938 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 408,107 shares during the quarter. Aflac makes up 4.3% of Guinness Asset Management LTD's holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Guinness Asset Management LTD owned about 0.37% of Aflac worth $220,928,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac by 121.9% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the first quarter worth about $34,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the first quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Aflac by 90.8% during the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 330 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Aflac Stock Down 0.8%

Aflac stock traded down $0.83 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $108.30. The stock had a trading volume of 1,834,958 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,208,083. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.92 billion, a PE ratio of 24.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $96.95 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $104.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $105.17.

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

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

Aflac Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director directly owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,575,019.85. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AFL shares. Raymond James Financial lowered their target price on Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Barclays set a $98.00 target price on Aflac and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated an "underperform" rating and issued a $106.00 target price (up from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $109.15.

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.