The stock price of Aflac Inc. (NYSE: AFL) has plunged by -0.06 when compared to previous closing price of 84.73, but the company has seen a 1.23% gain in its stock price over the last five trading sessions. Zacks Investment Research reported 2024-05-02 that Companies with a history of consistent dividend payouts are prime considerations for income-focused investors, reflecting their commitment to shareholders. And recently, these three companies announced boosts to their quarterly payouts.
Is It Worth Investing in Aflac Inc. (NYSE: AFL) Right Now?
The price-to-earnings ratio for Aflac Inc. (NYSE: AFL) is above average at 9.34x. The 36-month beta value for AFL is also noteworthy at 0.95. There are mixed opinions on the stock, with 2 analysts rating it as a “buy,” 1 rating it as “overweight,” 10 rating it as “hold,” and 1 rating it as “sell.”
The public float for AFL is 512.14M, and at present, short sellers hold a 2.49% of that float. The average trading volume of AFL on May 08, 2024 was 2.32M shares.
AFL’s Market Performance
AFL stock saw a decrease of 1.23% in the past week, with a monthly decline of -0.54% and a quarterly a decrease of 10.09%. The volatility ratio for the week is 2.97%, and the volatility levels for the last 30 days are 2.08% for Aflac Inc. (AFL). The simple moving average for the last 20 days is 2.34% for AFL stock, with a simple moving average of 5.82% for the last 200 days.
Analysts’ Opinion of AFL
Many brokerage firms have already submitted their reports for AFL stocks, with Evercore ISI repeating the rating for AFL by listing it as a “Underperform.” The predicted price for AFL in the upcoming period, according to Evercore ISI is $78 based on the research report published on January 04, 2024 of the current year 2024.
Morgan Stanley, on the other hand, stated in their research note that they expect to see AFL reach a price target of $75, previously predicting the price at $74. The rating they have provided for AFL stocks is “Equal-Weight” according to the report published on August 18th, 2023.
BofA Securities gave a rating of “Buy” to AFL, setting the target price at $77 in the report published on June 05th of the previous year.
AFL Trading at 1.88% from the 50-Day Moving Average
After a stumble in the market that brought AFL to its low price for the period of the last 52 weeks, the company was unable to rebound, for now settling with -1.83% of loss for the given period.
Volatility was left at 2.08%, however, over the last 30 days, the volatility rate increased by 2.97%, as shares surge +1.82% for the moving average over the last 20 days. Over the last 50 days, in opposition, the stock is trading +6.25% upper at present.
During the last 5 trading sessions, AFL rose by +1.23%, which changed the moving average for the period of 200-days by +16.95% in comparison to the 20-day moving average, which settled at $82.82. In addition, Aflac Inc. saw 2.64% in overturn over a single year, with a tendency to cut further gains.
Insider Trading
Reports are indicating that there were more than several insider trading activities at AFL starting from KENNY THOMAS J, who sale 5,000 shares at the price of $84.62 back on Mar 20 ’24. After this action, KENNY THOMAS J now owns 17,920 shares of Aflac Inc., valued at $423,105 using the latest closing price.
RIGGIERI ALBERT, the SVP, Global CRO of Aflac Inc., sale 8,000 shares at $83.34 during a trade that took place back on Mar 14 ’24, which means that RIGGIERI ALBERT is holding 32,825 shares at $666,760 based on the most recent closing price.
Stock Fundamentals for AFL
Current profitability levels for the company are sitting at:
- 0.4 for the present operating margin
- 1.0 for the gross margin
The net margin for Aflac Inc. stands at 0.25. The total capital return value is set at 0.06. Equity return is now at value 24.70, with 4.14 for asset returns.
Based on Aflac Inc. (AFL), the company’s capital structure generated 0.25 points at debt to capital in total, while cash flow to debt ratio is standing at 0.44. The debt to equity ratio resting at 0.33. The interest coverage ratio of the stock is 41.09.
Currently, EBITDA for the company is 39.0 million with net debt to EBITDA at 0.62. When we switch over and look at the enterprise to sales, we see a ratio of 2.78. The receivables turnover for the company is 22.05for trailing twelve months and the total asset turnover is 0.14. The liquidity ratio also appears to be rather interesting for investors as it stands at 1.88.
Conclusion
In summary, Aflac Inc. (AFL) has had a better performance as of late. Analysts have bullish opinions on the stock, with some viewing it as a “buy” and others as a “hold”. It is worth mentioning that the stock is currently trading in close proximity to its 50-day moving average and its 52-week high.
