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Aflac (AFL) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know
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Aflac (AFL - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $54.31, moving +1.61% from the previous trading session. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.92%. At the same time, the Dow added 2.15%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.12%.
Heading into today, shares of the insurer had gained 0.83% over the past month, outpacing the Finance sector's loss of 1.27% and lagging the S&P 500's gain of 1.54% in that time.
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Aflac as it approaches its next earnings report date. This is expected to be August 1, 2022. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.30, down 18.24% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $4.84 billion, down 12.98% from the year-ago period.
For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $5.26 per share and revenue of $19.55 billion, which would represent changes of -11.45% and -11.56%, respectively, from the prior year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Aflac. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.26% lower within the past month. Aflac currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Digging into valuation, Aflac currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 10.16. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 13.85, which means Aflac is trading at a discount to the group.
Also, we should mention that AFL has a PEG ratio of 2.03. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The Insurance - Accident and Health industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.28 as of yesterday's close.
The Insurance - Accident and Health industry is part of the Finance sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 174, which puts it in the bottom 31% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
To follow AFL in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.
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Aflac (AFL) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know
Aflac (AFL - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $54.31, moving +1.61% from the previous trading session. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.92%. At the same time, the Dow added 2.15%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.12%.
Heading into today, shares of the insurer had gained 0.83% over the past month, outpacing the Finance sector's loss of 1.27% and lagging the S&P 500's gain of 1.54% in that time.
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Aflac as it approaches its next earnings report date. This is expected to be August 1, 2022. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.30, down 18.24% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $4.84 billion, down 12.98% from the year-ago period.
For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $5.26 per share and revenue of $19.55 billion, which would represent changes of -11.45% and -11.56%, respectively, from the prior year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Aflac. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.26% lower within the past month. Aflac currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Digging into valuation, Aflac currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 10.16. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 13.85, which means Aflac is trading at a discount to the group.
Also, we should mention that AFL has a PEG ratio of 2.03. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The Insurance - Accident and Health industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.28 as of yesterday's close.
The Insurance - Accident and Health industry is part of the Finance sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 174, which puts it in the bottom 31% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
To follow AFL in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.