National Bank of Canada FI Increases Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 8.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 282,874 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 21,053 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Aflac were worth $25,192,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Forum Financial Management LP boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 8,337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $745,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. TriaGen Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. TriaGen Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,377 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $302,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 5,988 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $535,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 7,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $623,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. Finally, Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC now owns 3,077 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup upped their target price on Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Barclays started coverage on Aflac in a research report on Wednesday. They set an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Aflac from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $92.50.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE AFL opened at $108.86 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $73.79 and a 1-year high of $111.14. The company has a market capitalization of $61.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.02, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $99.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $89.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.10.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.23. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 28.35%. The firm had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.10 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.58 EPS. Aflac’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total transaction of $197,880.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,796,552.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Aflac 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.