Aflac Incorporated (AFL) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.58 on March 3rd

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, December 2nd,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of 0.58 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50.

Aflac has raised its dividend payment by an average of 14.9% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 44 consecutive years. Aflac has a payout ratio of 31.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Aflac to earn $7.28 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.32 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 31.9%.

Aflac Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $103.46 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.99. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $104.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $107.25. Aflac has a 52-week low of $78.38 and a 52-week high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.10.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. Equities research analysts forecast that Aflac will post 6.95 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.00.

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.