Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.64

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.64 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, March 1st. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 17th. This is a 4.9% increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61.

Aflac has raised its dividend by an average of 0.2% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 44 consecutive years. Aflac has a payout ratio of 34.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Aflac to earn $7.76 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.44 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 31.4%.

Aflac Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of AFL traded down $0.70 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $126.41. 1,216,492 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,226,950. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Aflac has a 1 year low of $105.76 and a 1 year high of $131.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.43, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.55. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $118.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $116.48.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.63. Aflac had a return on equity of 12.82% and a net margin of 21.24%. The company had revenue of $4.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.49 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 31.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Aflac will post 7.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $112.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $138.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Aflac from $137.00 to $133.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $119.00 to $123.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $116.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $118.73.

Aflac Company Profile

Aflac Incorporated is an insurance company that provides supplemental health and life insurance to individuals and businesses. Its products are designed to help customers manage expenses that may not be covered by major medical insurance, including costs associated with accidents, cancer, critical illness and hospital stays. The company operates primarily in the United States and Japan. In the U.S., Aflac offers workplace benefits such as accident, disability, dental, vision and life insurance. In Japan, it provides products including cancer, medical and life insurance.