Truist Financial Corp Boosts Stake in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• Truist Financial Corp has significantly increased its stake in Aflac Incorporated by 59.2% in Q2, now owning 510,370 shares valued at approximately $53.8 million.
• Aflac announced a quarterly dividend of $0.58, representing a 2.1% yield, and has initiated a stock repurchase plan to buy back 100 million shares.
• The company reported a Q2 EPS of $1.78, exceeding estimates, but faced a 19% revenue decline year-over-year, generating $4.16 billion against analysts' expectations of $4.30 billion.

Truist Financial Corp raised its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 59.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 510,370 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 189,765 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp owned approximately 0.09% of Aflac worth $53,824,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at about $140,746,000. Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 133.2% in the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 758,424 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $84,329,000 after purchasing an additional 433,134 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,575,054 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $397,510,000 after purchasing an additional 349,787 shares in the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 96.0% in the 1st quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 407,377 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $45,056,000 after purchasing an additional 199,583 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 53.6% in the 1st quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 523,236 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $58,179,000 after purchasing an additional 182,631 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $110.81 on Thursday. The firm's 50 day moving average is $105.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.36. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $96.95 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.13, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

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

Aflac Announces Dividend

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

Aflac declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase 100,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Evercore ISI reiterated an "underperform" rating and set a $106.00 price objective (up previously from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $109.15.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at $2,575,019.85. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

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