Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Has $26.54 Million Stake in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 34.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 251,646 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 65,056 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $26,539,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs acquired a new position in Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at $2,070,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the first quarter valued at about $551,000. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 4.8% in the second quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 140,874 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,857,000 after acquiring an additional 6,400 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 8.2% in the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,652,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $174,273,000 after acquiring an additional 124,706 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Aflac by 4.3% during the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,703,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $178,056,000 after acquiring an additional 70,244 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aflac Stock Performance

Aflac stock opened at $114.06 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market cap of $59.78 billion, a PE ratio of 25.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.83. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $96.95 and a 12-month high of $115.43. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $108.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $105.71.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter. Aflac had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08%. As a group, analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, August 12th that permits the company to repurchase 100,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 19th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 30.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on AFL. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $104.00 price objective (up previously from $102.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Aflac from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Aflac from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Aflac from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $110.50.

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.