Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $102.86.

AFL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays reduced their price target on Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $104.53 on Thursday. Aflac has a twelve month low of $78.38 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $104.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $107.28. The company has a market cap of $58.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.99.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Aflac will post 6.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a $0.58 dividend. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 20.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total transaction of $2,558,529.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aflac

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Spinnaker Trust grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 3,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $405,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA grew its stake in Aflac by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 7,643 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $791,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 6,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $662,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Aflac by 23.2% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, TKG Advisors LLC grew its position in Aflac by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. TKG Advisors LLC now owns 21,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,230,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.