Southern Capital Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• Southern Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Aflac Incorporated by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter, bringing their total holdings to 38,738 shares valued at approximately $4.08 million.
• Aflac's most recent quarterly earnings report revealed $1.78 EPS, exceeding analyst expectations, although its revenue was down 19.0% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.58 per share, representing an annual yield of 2.1%, and announced a share buyback plan allowing it to purchase 100 million shares.

Southern Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,738 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,408 shares during the period. Aflac accounts for about 2.1% of Southern Capital Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Southern Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Aflac were worth $4,085,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the 1st quarter worth about $2,070,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at about $551,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 121.9% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its stake in Aflac by 11.8% during the 2nd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 32,982 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,478,000 after purchasing an additional 3,484 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the first quarter worth approximately $2,626,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AFL shares. Evercore ISI reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a $106.00 price objective (up previously from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Raymond James Financial cut their target price on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target 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. Morgan Stanley lifted 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $109.15.

Aflac Price Performance

AFL stock opened at $109.50 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $58.56 billion, a PE ratio of 24.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.85. The company's fifty day moving average price is $105.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.22. 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 one year low of $96.95 and a one year high of $115.50.

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

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is presently 52.61%.

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

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 owned 25,105 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,575,019.85. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by 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.

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