Aflac Stock Gets Increased EPS Estimate from DOWLING & PARTN

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) – Investment analysts at DOWLING & PARTN upped their FY2027 earnings per share estimates for shares of Aflac in a report released on Tuesday, October 13th. DOWLING & PARTN analyst J. Hurwitz now forecasts that the financial services provider will post earnings of $7.65 per share for the year, up from their previous estimate of $7.55. The consensus estimate for Aflac’s current full-year earnings is $7.04 per share. DOWLING & PARTN also issued estimates for Aflac’s FY2028 earnings at $8.25 EPS.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $4.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.11 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 26.91% and a return on equity of 13.27%. Aflac’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.78 EPS.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on AFL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Aflac from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. Evercore upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $109.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Aflac from $122.00 to $116.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Aflac from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $117.20.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $118.07 on Friday. Aflac has a 12 month low of $105.43 and a 12 month high of $130.22. The company has a market cap of $59.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s 50 day moving average is $116.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $117.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Institutional Trading of Aflac

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AFL. NFSG Corp raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 43.0% in the 3rd quarter. NFSG Corp now owns 589 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 93,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,452,000 after acquiring an additional 3,050 shares in the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 7,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $784,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in Aflac by 28.8% in the third quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 19,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,141,000 after acquiring an additional 4,287 shares during the period. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 347.8% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 640 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 42,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.38, for a total value of $4,887,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 50,302,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,854,256,157.20. This trade represents a 0.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 545,051 shares of company stock valued at $63,379,217. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were issued a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 26.15%.

Key Aflac News

Here are the key news stories impacting Aflac this week:

• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its price target on Aflac to $119 from $116 while maintaining a “neutral” rating. The increase reflects somewhat improved valuation support, although the target implies only limited upside from recent trading levels. JPMorgan Aflac Price Target Update
• Positive Sentiment: AM Best affirmed the credit ratings of Aflac and its subsidiaries, reinforcing confidence in the insurer’s financial strength and ability to meet policyholder obligations. This is supportive for a defensive insurer whose earnings depend partly on balance-sheet stability. AM Best Affirms Aflac Credit Ratings
• Neutral Sentiment: Bank of America lowered its Aflac price target to $133 but retained a “buy” rating. The higher target remains well above recent trading levels, but the reduction indicates some reassessment of near-term valuation or sector conditions. Bank of America Cuts Aflac Price Target
• Negative Sentiment: Japan Post Holdings continued selling Aflac shares, including transactions totaling 42,000 shares on October 13 and additional sales on October 9 and 12. Each sale represented only about 0.02%–0.08% of its large position and was conducted under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, limiting the immediate fundamental impact. However, the repeated disposals may weigh on sentiment and raise concerns about ongoing insider supply. Aflac Shareholder SEC Filing

Aflac Company Profile

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE: AFL) is an insurance company that provides supplemental health and life insurance products to individuals, employers and groups. Its coverage is designed to help policyholders manage expenses that may not be fully covered by major medical insurance, including costs associated with illness, injury and other qualifying events.

The company’s products include accident, cancer, critical illness, hospital indemnity, disability, dental, vision and life insurance. Aflac distributes its policies through workplace benefits programs, independent agents, brokers and other distribution channels.

Founded in 1955 as American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus, Aflac has its headquarters in Columbus, Georgia.