Waterloo Capital L.P. Makes New Investment in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Waterloo Capital L.P. bought a new position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $197,820,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 7,001.0% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 667,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $596,000 after acquiring an additional 658,303 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,588,000. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its position in shares of Aflac by 196.5% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 484,176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,945,000 after purchasing an additional 320,867 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 6.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,807,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $429,319,000 after buying an additional 285,576 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Down 1.0 %

NYSE AFL opened at $107.87 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $102.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.68. 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 Incorporated has a one year low of $74.89 and a one year high of $111.14. The firm has a market cap of $61.29 billion, a PE ratio of 11.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.95.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.23. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 28.35%. The business had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.58 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 22.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on AFL. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 28th. Barclays initiated coverage on Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group raised their target price on Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Citigroup upped their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total transaction of $197,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,158 shares in the company, valued at $1,796,552.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Company 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.