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Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights: Aflac and Brown & Brown
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For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – December 6, 2023 – Today, Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights Aflac (AFL - Free Report) and Brown & Brown (BRO - Free Report) .
2 Insurance Stocks Poised for New Highs in December
With insurance coverage and services being somewhat vital in today’s society, Aflac and Brown & Brown are two insurance stocks that are worthy of investors' consideration.
After hitting 52-week highs last week both stocks looked poised to keep rising in correlation with the trend of positive earnings estimate revisions.
Recent Performance Overview
Voluntary supplemental and life insurance behemoth Aflac has seen its stock rise +15% for the year while Brown & Brown shares have soared +30% YTD with the company also providing a variety of insurance products including commercial packages, group medical, and workers' compensation.
Their strong price performances could continue with Aflac’s Zacks Insurance-Accident and Health Industry currently in the top 18% of over 250 Zacks industries while Brown & Brown’s Zacks Insurance-Brokerage Industry is in the top 4%.
Attractive EPS Growth
Benefitting from the essentiality and strengthening outlook of their business industries, Aflac and Brown & Brown are experiencing stellar EPS growth this year.
Aflac’s fiscal 2023 earnings are now expected to be up 18% to $6.30 per share compared to $5.33 a share last year. Fiscal 2024 earnings are projected to slightly edge up to $6.33 per share and this would represent 27% EPS growth over the last five years with earnings at $4.96 a share in 2020.
Turning to Brown & Brown, annual earnings are forecasted to climb 21% this year to $2.76 per share versus $2.28 a share in 2022. Plus, FY24 earnings are projected to jump another 9% to $3.02 per share and this would be an 80% increase over the last five years with 2020 earnings at $1.67 a share.
Reasonable P/E Valuations
In regards to their P/E valuations, Aflac trades at a very reasonable 13.1X forward earnings multiple and near the Zacks Insurance-Accident and Health Industry’s 11.1X. Furthermore, Aflac is one of the leaders in its space and trades at an attractive discount to the S&P 500’s 21.3X.
While Brown & Brown trades above the benchmark at 26.9X forward earnings, this is not a stretched premium considering the company’s expansive bottom line as it is also near its own industry average of 22.7X.
Bottom Line
Over the last 60 days, annual earnings estimates have continued to rise for both Aflac’s and Brown & Brown’s fiscal 2023 and FY24. In correlation with such they share the commonality of a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). The trend of positive earnings estimate revisions is also supportive of their reasonable P/E valuations and as these two insurance companies benefit from strong business industries their stocks may be in store for higher highs in December.
Why Haven’t You Looked at Zacks' Top Stocks?
Since 2000, our top stock-picking strategies have blown away the S&P's +6.2 average gain per year. Amazingly, they soared with average gains of +46.4%, +49.5% and +55.2% per year. Today you can access their live picks without cost or obligation.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.
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Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights: Aflac and Brown & Brown
For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – December 6, 2023 – Today, Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights Aflac (AFL - Free Report) and Brown & Brown (BRO - Free Report) .
2 Insurance Stocks Poised for New Highs in December
With insurance coverage and services being somewhat vital in today’s society, Aflac and Brown & Brown are two insurance stocks that are worthy of investors' consideration.
After hitting 52-week highs last week both stocks looked poised to keep rising in correlation with the trend of positive earnings estimate revisions.
Recent Performance Overview
Voluntary supplemental and life insurance behemoth Aflac has seen its stock rise +15% for the year while Brown & Brown shares have soared +30% YTD with the company also providing a variety of insurance products including commercial packages, group medical, and workers' compensation.
Their strong price performances could continue with Aflac’s Zacks Insurance-Accident and Health Industry currently in the top 18% of over 250 Zacks industries while Brown & Brown’s Zacks Insurance-Brokerage Industry is in the top 4%.
Attractive EPS Growth
Benefitting from the essentiality and strengthening outlook of their business industries, Aflac and Brown & Brown are experiencing stellar EPS growth this year.
Aflac’s fiscal 2023 earnings are now expected to be up 18% to $6.30 per share compared to $5.33 a share last year. Fiscal 2024 earnings are projected to slightly edge up to $6.33 per share and this would represent 27% EPS growth over the last five years with earnings at $4.96 a share in 2020.
Turning to Brown & Brown, annual earnings are forecasted to climb 21% this year to $2.76 per share versus $2.28 a share in 2022. Plus, FY24 earnings are projected to jump another 9% to $3.02 per share and this would be an 80% increase over the last five years with 2020 earnings at $1.67 a share.
Reasonable P/E Valuations
In regards to their P/E valuations, Aflac trades at a very reasonable 13.1X forward earnings multiple and near the Zacks Insurance-Accident and Health Industry’s 11.1X. Furthermore, Aflac is one of the leaders in its space and trades at an attractive discount to the S&P 500’s 21.3X.
While Brown & Brown trades above the benchmark at 26.9X forward earnings, this is not a stretched premium considering the company’s expansive bottom line as it is also near its own industry average of 22.7X.
Bottom Line
Over the last 60 days, annual earnings estimates have continued to rise for both Aflac’s and Brown & Brown’s fiscal 2023 and FY24. In correlation with such they share the commonality of a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). The trend of positive earnings estimate revisions is also supportive of their reasonable P/E valuations and as these two insurance companies benefit from strong business industries their stocks may be in store for higher highs in December.
Why Haven’t You Looked at Zacks' Top Stocks?
Since 2000, our top stock-picking strategies have blown away the S&P's +6.2 average gain per year. Amazingly, they soared with average gains of +46.4%, +49.5% and +55.2% per year. Today you can access their live picks without cost or obligation.
See Stocks Free >>
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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.