Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.63 EPS

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $2.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.63, FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 26.91% and a return on equity of 13.27%.

Aflac Trading Up 1.0%

AFL stock traded up $1.25 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $125.29. The company had a trading volume of 2,565,475 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,241,289. Aflac has a 52 week low of $105.76 and a 52 week high of $130.22. The company has a market cap of $62.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.43, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a 50 day moving average of $116.99 and a 200 day moving average of $115.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

Aflac News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Aflac this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Aflac reported third-quarter adjusted EPS of $2.43, above analyst estimates of about $1.80–$1.81. The earnings beat is the clearest favorable signal in the latest news. Aflac third-quarter results
• Neutral Sentiment: The company also reported GAAP net earnings of $303 million, or $0.61 per diluted share, amid portfolio repositioning. This is substantially below adjusted EPS, so investors may look to the release for details on the items behind the difference. Aflac earnings and portfolio repositioning
• Neutral Sentiment: Aflac declared a fourth-quarter dividend alongside its results, supporting its income-return profile; the supplied announcement did not specify the dividend amount. Dividend announcement
• Negative Sentiment: Quiver’s six-month insider-trading tally showed 159 open-market sales and no purchases. That may be a cautionary signal, though the activity spans several months and does not by itself establish a near-term outlook. Aflac earnings and trading data

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 113,611 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.53, for a total transaction of $13,466,311.83. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 50,134,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,942,422,016.37. The trade was a 0.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 713,662 shares of company stock valued at $83,323,978 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AFL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $116.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Aflac from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. 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. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $138.00 target price (up from $130.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $101.00 target price (up from $99.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $117.20.

Aflac Company Profile

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) is an insurance company specializing in supplemental health and life insurance. Through its policies, the company helps individuals and families manage expenses that may not be fully covered by major medical insurance, including deductibles, copayments and other out-of-pocket costs.

Aflac offers products such as accident, cancer, critical illness, hospital indemnity, dental and vision, disability, life and long-term care insurance. Many of its supplemental policies provide cash benefits directly to policyholders, who can generally use the funds according to their individual needs.