Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp Grows Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp raised its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 6.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 37,225 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,196 shares during the quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp’s holdings in Aflac were worth $4,162,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Spinnaker Trust raised its stake in Aflac by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 3,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $405,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Aflac by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 9,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,094,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC raised its stake in Aflac by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 17,231 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,539,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC raised its stake in Aflac by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 21,775 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,945,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Century Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Aflac by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 4,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $469,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $114.10 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.18, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.96. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $111.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $101.23. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $75.07 and a 52-week high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.84 earnings per share. Aflac’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on AFL shares. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Aflac from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.93.

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.