Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 643,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,244 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.12% of Aflac worth $71,964,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new position in Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Aflac during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership bought a new stake in Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Aflac by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at $45,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AFL. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Aflac to $107.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.73.

Aflac Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of AFL stock opened at $102.69 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $109.16 and a 200 day moving average of $103.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $75.07 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.05 billion, a PE ratio of 15.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.97.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a $0.58 dividend. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 34.94%.

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.