Hancock Whitney Corp Raises Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Hancock Whitney Corp boosted its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 6.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in Aflac were worth $271,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new stake in Aflac in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the third quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the third quarter worth $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. TD Cowen started coverage on Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.93.

Aflac Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $114.10 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $63.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.18, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.96. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $110.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $101.14. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $75.07 and a 12-month high of $115.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. Aflac’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.75%. Aflac’s payout ratio is 30.12%.

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.