COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) — COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) — Aflac Inc. (AFL) on Wednesday reported third-quarter profit of $303 million.

On a per-share basis, the Columbus, Georgia-based company said it had profit of 61 cents. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, came to $2.43 per share.

The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of six analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.80 per share.

The insurer posted revenue of $3.27 billion in the period. Its adjusted revenue was $4.3 billion, also beating Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $4.2 billion.

Aflac shares have risen 14% since the beginning of the year, while the S&P's 500 index has climbed 12%. In the final minutes of trading on Wednesday, shares hit $125.30, a rise of 15% in the last 12 months.

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This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on AFL at https://www.zacks.com/ap/AFL