Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Short Interest Update

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 12,840,000 shares, a decline of 8.5% from the August 31st total of 14,030,000 shares. Approximately 2.6% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 2,300,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.6 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays assumed coverage on Aflac in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Aflac from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 stock was sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total transaction of $197,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,796,552.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aflac

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. grew its stake in Aflac by 80.0% during the first quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Aflac during the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in Aflac during the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac during the second quarter worth approximately $54,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Up 0.8 %

Aflac stock traded up $0.92 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $112.72. The stock had a trading volume of 863,494 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,257,500. The company has a quick ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $64.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.95. Aflac has a one year low of $74.89 and a one year high of $112.83. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $104.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $93.18.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.10 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 28.35%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.58 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Aflac will post 6.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. Aflac’s payout ratio is 22.08%.

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.