Short Interest in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Drops By 6.8%

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aflac

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the third quarter worth $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the third quarter worth $38,000. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 41.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the third quarter worth $45,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE AFL opened at $111.32 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $110.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $99.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.96. Aflac has a 52-week low of $75.07 and a 52-week high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Aflac will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors 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 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 30.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. 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, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.