Synovus Financial Corp Has $123.30 Million Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• Synovus Financial Corp increased its stake in Aflac Incorporated by 0.8% in the first quarter, owning 1,108,880 shares valued at approximately $123.3 million.
• Aflac's board has authorized a stock buyback plan allowing the company to reacquire 100 million shares, indicating the board's belief that the stock is undervalued.
• The company reported earnings of $1.78 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, despite a 19% decline in year-over-year revenue.

Synovus Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 0.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,108,880 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,806 shares during the period. Aflac makes up approximately 1.6% of Synovus Financial Corp's holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Synovus Financial Corp owned 0.21% of Aflac worth $123,296,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NorthRock Partners LLC grew its stake in Aflac by 1.5% in the first quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 6,519 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $725,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 24.4% during the 1st quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 495 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 6,653 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $711,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Optas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Optas LLC now owns 2,949 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $328,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in Aflac by 0.4% during the first quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 30,879 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,433,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI reiterated an "underperform" rating and set a $106.00 price target (up previously from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Aflac from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" 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 given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $109.15.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL traded down $1.28 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $106.13. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,439,503 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,203,741. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $96.95 and a one year high of $115.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.83. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $103.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $104.92.

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

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.2%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.61%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,575,019.85. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

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.