Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.46 EPS

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) posted its earnings results on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.46, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 28.35%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.84 earnings per share.

Aflac Stock Down 3.8 %

NYSE AFL traded down $4.21 on Thursday, hitting $105.88. The stock had a trading volume of 1,603,020 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,219,558. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $110.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $97.46. 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 has a 52-week low of $75.07 and a 52-week high of $115.50. The stock has a market cap of $60.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.95.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Truist Financial increased their target price on Aflac from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total value of $197,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,796,552.52. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.