Aflac - AFL Stock Forecast, Price & News

Aflac Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, provides supplemental health and life insurance products. It operates through two segments, Aflac Japan and Aflac U.S. The Aflac Japan segment offers cancer, medical, nursing care income support, GIFT, and whole and term life insurance products, as well as WAYS and child endowment plans under saving type insurance products in Japan. The Aflac U.S. segment provides cancer, accident, short-term disability, critical illness, hospital indemnity, dental, vision, long-term care and disability, and term and whole life insurance products in the United States. It sells its products through sales associates, brokers, independent corporate agencies, individual agencies, and affiliated corporate agencies. The company was founded in 1955 and is based in Columbus, Georgia.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AFL traded up $0.03 on Tuesday, reaching $64.10. 3,683 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,449,487. Aflac has a fifty-two week low of $51.28 and a fifty-two week high of $67.20. The company's 50 day moving average is $56.48 and its 200-day moving average is $59.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.51 billion, a PE ratio of 9.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.07 and a quick ratio of 0.07.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.27. Aflac had a return on equity of 12.40% and a net margin of 20.37%. The company had revenue of $5.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.59 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Aflac will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 24th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 23rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.50%. Aflac's payout ratio is currently 24.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AFL shares. Citigroup started coverage on Aflac in a report on Monday, May 23rd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $60.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Aflac from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Aflac from $69.00 to $66.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Aflac from $61.00 to $62.00 in a report on Monday, July 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on Aflac from $68.00 to $66.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $62.08.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Teresa L. White sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.24, for a total value of $592,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 134,256 shares in the company, valued at $7,953,325.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Teresa L. White sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.24, for a total value of $592,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 134,256 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,953,325.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Barbara K. Rimer sold 11,026 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.49, for a total transaction of $644,910.74. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 33,413 shares in the company, valued at $1,954,326.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,326 shares of company stock worth $1,253,907 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.