Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

by · The Markets Daily

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL – Get Free Report) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,260,000 shares, a decrease of 9.3% from the October 31st total of 9,110,000 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 2,200,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.8 days.

Aflac Stock Down 4.2 %

AFL opened at $106.76 on Wednesday. Aflac has a 52 week low of $75.07 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $111.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $101.93. 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 company has a market cap of $59.31 billion, a PE ratio of 16.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.97.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.84 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Aflac will post 7.27 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on AFL. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.93.

Read Our Latest Report on Aflac

Institutional Trading of Aflac

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Aflac by 79.7% in the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,058,000 after purchasing an additional 12,131 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 6.4% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 98,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,800,000 after buying an additional 5,912 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new position in Aflac during the second quarter worth $2,535,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its holdings in Aflac by 576.9% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 8,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $721,000 after acquiring an additional 6,882 shares during the period. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth $979,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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