Lewis Asset Management LLC Increases Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Lewis Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 13.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 397 shares during the quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $365,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the first quarter valued at $50,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the third quarter valued at $51,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter worth about $54,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 116.7% in the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 479 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $107.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.10. The company has a market cap of $59.69 billion, a PE ratio of 16.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.96. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $110.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $98.32. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $75.07 and a 1-year high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.05 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Aflac’s payout ratio is 30.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AFL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price target for the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.93.

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.