Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Short Interest Down 6.8% in October

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,110,000 shares, a drop of 6.8% from the October 15th total of 9,770,000 shares. Approximately 1.8% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,220,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.1 days.

Aflac Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:AFL opened at $112.04 on Tuesday. Aflac has a 12 month low of $75.07 and a 12 month high of $115.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.87, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.96. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $110.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.89.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. Analysts expect that Aflac will post 7.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 30.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AFL shares. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Aflac from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.93.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aflac

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 75.9% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 269,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,138,000 after purchasing an additional 116,341 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Aflac by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 62,936 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,035,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Brophy Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth $590,000. Executive Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth $394,000. Finally, Raelipskie Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% 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.