SCS Capital Management LLC Buys Shares of 5,759 Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• SCS Capital Management LLC has acquired 5,759 shares of Aflac, valued at approximately $640,000, during the first quarter.
• Aflac's board has approved a share buyback plan allowing the repurchase of 100 million outstanding shares, indicating a belief that the stock is undervalued.
• Despite reporting a 19% decrease in year-over-year revenue, Aflac's earnings per share for the last quarter surpassed analysts' estimates, coming in at $1.78.

SCS Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,759 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $640,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Aflac by 121.9% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $206,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac by 11.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 13,527 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,504,000 after purchasing an additional 1,411 shares during the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Sowell Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $865,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total value of $102,570.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 25,105 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,575,019.85. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $107.16 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $103.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $105.14. The firm has a market cap of $57.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.85. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $96.95 and a 12 month high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 15.32%.The business's revenue was down 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.83 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were paid a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on AFL. Raymond James Financial dropped their target price on Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, 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 research report on Monday, August 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $109.15.

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.

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