StockNews.com Downgrades Aflac (NYSE:AFL) to Sell

StockNews.com lowered shares of Aflac (NYSE:AFL) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Tuesday.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on AFL. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays initiated coverage on Aflac in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.73.

Aflac Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $103.44 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.58, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.97. Aflac has a 1-year low of $75.07 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The business’s 50 day moving average is $107.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $104.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. Aflac’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Aflac will post 7.27 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 34.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in Aflac in the second quarter valued at about $83,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 74.9% during the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 8,601 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $766,000 after acquiring an additional 3,682 shares in the last quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in Aflac by 2.9% during the second quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $398,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its stake in Aflac by 9.5% in the second quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 38,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,469,000 after acquiring an additional 3,375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Aflac by 3.9% in the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 280,228 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,027,000 after purchasing an additional 10,416 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Aflac

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.