Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Reaches New 12-Month High Following Earnings Beat

Key Points

• Aflac shares hit a 52-week high, trading as high as $131.19 after quarterly earnings topped expectations.
• Quarterly EPS was $2.43, beating the $1.80 consensus estimate, but reported revenue of $3.27 billion was below the $4.12 billion forecast and down 31% year over year.
• Aflac declared a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share, or $2.44 annualized, representing a 1.9% yield.

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as high as $131.19 and last traded at $130.5330, with a volume of 384,478 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $125.30.

The financial services provider reported $2.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.63. Aflac had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 26.91%. The firm had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.49 EPS. Aflac's quarterly revenue was down 31.0% compared to the same quarter last year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 18th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 18th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is 26.15%.

Key Aflac News

Here are the key news stories impacting Aflac this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Adjusted earnings were $2.43 per share, beating analyst expectations of about $1.80 and coming close to $2.49 a year earlier. Aflac Q3 earnings report
• Positive Sentiment: Aflac declared a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share, equivalent to $2.44 annually and a stated yield of 1.9%. The dividend is payable December 1 to shareholders of record November 18. Aflac results and dividend announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: Quarterly revenue figures in the supplied reports conflict: several cite $3.27 billion, below the $4.12 billion estimate, while another reports $4.297 billion and a beat. Investors may want to consult Aflac’s release for the applicable revenue measure. Revenue estimate report
• Negative Sentiment: Reports also said GAAP net profit fell; one cited net earnings of $303 million, or $0.61 per diluted share. This contrasts with the stronger adjusted EPS figure and could temper the earnings beat’s positive impact. Aflac Q3 profit report

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Aflac from $122.00 to $116.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 12th. Evercore raised their target price on Aflac from $109.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Aflac from $116.00 to $107.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Aflac from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $138.00 price target (up from $130.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Monday, August 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $117.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 113,611 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.53, for a total transaction of $13,466,311.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 50,134,329 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,942,422,016.37. This trade represents a 0.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 713,662 shares of company stock worth $83,323,978. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aflac

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Aflac in the second quarter valued at about $4,093,787,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Aflac in the 2nd quarter worth about $404,639,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter worth about $298,418,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at about $244,516,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 161.9% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,184,801 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $349,405,000 after buying an additional 1,968,738 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Aflac Trading Up 4.1%

The firm has a market cap of $65.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.95, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a 50 day moving average of $117.17 and a 200 day moving average of $116.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.12.

About Aflac

Aflac Incorporated NYSE: AFL is an insurance company specializing in supplemental health and life insurance. Through its policies, the company helps individuals and families manage expenses that may not be fully covered by major medical insurance, including deductibles, copayments and other out-of-pocket costs.

Aflac offers products such as accident, cancer, critical illness, hospital indemnity, dental and vision, disability, life and long-term care insurance. Many of its supplemental policies provide cash benefits directly to policyholders, who can generally use the funds according to their individual needs.

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