Insurance company raised its dividend 18% and now offers a 3% dividend yield
Dividend Aristocrat Aflac Inc. (NYSE:AFL) recently increased
its dividend by almost 18%. This is a massive increase, especially since the
company has compounded its dividend at a rate of 6.6% over the last decade.
Shares of the company have increased 15.4% since I last
looked at the company, but Aflac's stock continues to trade with a single-digit
price-earnings multiple.
Let's dig deeper into the company to see why Aflac remains a
buy following the most recent dividend increase.
Quarterly highlights
Aflac reported third-quarter earnings results on Oct. 27.
Net earnings grew 217% to $2.46 billion. This included a $1.4 billion benefit
resulting from deferred tax benefits due to U.S. tax regulations. Adjusting for
this, earnings per share grew 23 cents, or 19.8%, from the previous year. This
was also 25 cents ahead of Wall Street analysts' expectations. Revenue improved
2.3% year over year to $5.67 billion, which topped estimates by $162.8 million.
Aflac retired 10.9 million shares during the quarter at an
average price of $36.70. Even accounting for this, adjusted earnings per share
improved 15.2%. The company has another 110.9 million shares remaining on its
repurchase authorization.
In U.S. dollars, Aflac Japan's net premiums decreased 2.3%
to $3.2 billion as limited-pay products reached paid-up status. Total revenue
was lower by 1.8% to $3.8 billion. Net investment income was higher by 0.6% and
currency exchange improved results by 1%.
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