Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Stock Now Rated “Hold” by Wall Street Analysts

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the sixteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have given a hold recommendation, three have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $117.20.

Several equities analysts recently commented on AFL shares. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $125.00 price objective (up from $124.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $116.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 target price (up from $101.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Evercore increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $109.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th.

Key Stories Impacting Aflac

Here are the key news stories impacting Aflac this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Aflac reported adjusted Q3 earnings of $2.43 per share, ahead of the roughly $1.80 analyst consensus. Stronger U.S. profits and lower expenses helped drive the beat; reports also noted a 490-basis-point decline in the U.S. claims ratio. Aflac Q3 Earnings Beat Estimates on Strong U.S. Profit Growth
• Positive Sentiment: The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share, payable Dec. 1, continuing its long record of dividend growth and supporting its appeal to income investors. Aflac declares fourth-quarter dividend
• Neutral Sentiment: Aflac expects Japan pretax margins of 35%–38% and is targeting reinsurance cession of 30% of its FSA reserves. The plan may help manage capital and risk, though its effect on future earnings remains a consideration. Aflac Japan margin and reinsurance plans
• Negative Sentiment: Investors also faced weaker Japan results, currency headwinds and portfolio losses. Aflac’s reported Q3 net profit fell, highlighting the gap between the adjusted earnings beat and bottom-line performance. Aflac Q3 profit falls

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aflac

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter worth about $4,093,787,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Aflac by 27.8% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,201,217 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $609,843,000 after acquiring an additional 1,132,091 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,550,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $499,216,000 after acquiring an additional 67,650 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at $404,639,000. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 22.6% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 3,268,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $358,555,000 after acquiring an additional 603,426 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Down 1.8%

AFL opened at $123.98 on Friday. Aflac has a 12 month low of $105.76 and a 12 month high of $131.18. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $117.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $116.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.07, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.55.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.63. Aflac had a net margin of 26.91% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The business had revenue of $4.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.49 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 31.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Aflac will post 7.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 18th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

About Aflac

Aflac Incorporated is an insurance company that provides supplemental health and life insurance to individuals and businesses. Its products are designed to help customers manage expenses that may not be covered by major medical insurance, including costs associated with accidents, cancer, critical illness and hospital stays.

The company operates primarily in the United States and Japan. In the U.S., Aflac offers workplace benefits such as accident, disability, dental, vision and life insurance.