With a market cap of $62.6 billion, Aflac Incorporated (AFL) is a leading insurance company that provides supplemental health and life insurance products to individuals, families, and businesses in the United States and Japan. Headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, the company offers financial protection against medical expenses, accidents, critical illnesses, and other unexpected events that may not be fully covered by traditional health insurance.
Shares of the company have outperformed the broader market over the past 52 weeks. AFL stock has increased 11.7% over this time frame, while the broader S&P 500 Index ($SPX) has returned 11.3%. Moreover, shares of the company are up 15.3% over the past six months, compared to SPX’s 2.8% gain.
Focusing more closely, shares of Aflac have outperformed the State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF’s (XLF) 10.2% rise over the past 52 weeks and 14.6% YTD return.
On Nov. 4, Aflac released its Q3 earnings, and its shares rose 1%. Its adjusted EPS fell 2.4% to $2.43, and total revenue dropped 31% year over year to $3.27 billion. Annualized return on average shareholders' equity was 4.1%, while adjusted ROE, excluding foreign currency remeasurement, stood at 23.7%.
Aflac returned $1.1 billion to shareholders through $804 million in share repurchases and $305 million in dividends. The company also marked its 44th consecutive year of dividend increases, declaring a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share. CEO Daniel P. Amos highlighted the company's focus on profitable growth, product innovation, and disciplined capital allocation, emphasizing efforts to address evolving customer needs in Japan and the U.S. while balancing investments in business growth and shareholder returns.
For the fiscal year ending in December 2026, analysts expect Aflac Incorporated’s adjusted EPS to decrease 2.7% year-over-year to $7.29. The company’s earnings surprise history is mixed. It beat the consensus estimates in one of the last four quarters while missing on three other occasions.
Among the 17 analysts covering the stock, the consensus rating is a “Hold.” That’s based on two “Strong Buy” ratings, one “Moderate Buy,” 10 “Holds,” and four “Strong Sells.”
This configuration has remained unchanged over the past three months.
Wells Fargo analyst Wesley Carmichael maintained a “Hold” rating on AFLAC and set a price target of $116.
While the stock is trading above the mean price target of $119.44, the Street-high price target of $143 suggests a 12.5% potential upside from the current market prices.
On the date of publication, Kritika Sarmah did not directly have a position in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.