This Duck Is A Cash Cow: Aflac’s 3Q Financials

Oct. 25--If it weren't so famous for its wildly popular Aflac duck campaign, the supplemental insurer headquartered on Wynnton Road in Columbus could easily promote itself as a cash cow.

That's because Aflac on Wednesday reported a surging profit in the third quarter of 2018, as well as for the first nine months of this year, giving investors in its stock and employees who rely on the company for their livelihood plenty to cheer about.

Dan Amos, Aflac's chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement that the numbers for the July-September period "reflected solid performance" in both the U.S. and Japan, the latter comprising more than 75 percent of the company's supplemental health and life insurance sales. He also noted progress was made on realizing the firm's goals for the full year.

Here are the highlights from Aflac's third-quarter earnings report, financial information that is also filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission:

The bottom line

The firm's profit, or net earnings, in the quarter came to $845 million, which was 18 percent higher than the $716 million reported in the third quarter of 2017. That equates to earnings per diluted share of $1.10 in the latest quarter, up from 91 cents per share a year ago.

That profit came on total revenues of $5.6 billion in the quarter, 1.3 percent higher than $5.5 billion a year ago.

Adjusted earnings per share, which deducts one-time financial gains and losses, were $1.09, which beat by a dime per share what Wall Street analysts who follow the company had been anticipating.

Through the first nine months of this year, the firm's profit reached nearly $2.4 billion, up 18.5 percent from the January-September period in 2017, which equates to $3.10 per share. That was on total revenues of $16.6 billion, a 2.4 percent increase from a year ago.

Amos: 2018 profit could reach $4.06 per share

"Consistent strong performance in the first nine months of the year puts us on track to achieve the high end of our revised 2018 adjusted earnings per diluted share guidance of $3.90 to $4.06, assuming the 2017 weighted-average exchange rate of 112.16 yen to the dollar," Amos said. "As always, we are working very hard to achieve our earnings-per-share objective while also ensuring we deliver on our promise to policyholders."

It keeps investors coming back for more

Aflac's board of directors approved a fourth-quarter dividend of 26 cents per share, which will be payable Dec. 3 to those owning shares of the firm's stock at close of business on Nov. 21. A notable feat is the dividend has now increased 36 years in a row.

Investments, cash and stock buybacks

The insurer's total investments and cash are nothing at which to sneeze. As of Sept. 30, they totaled $124.2 billion, up from $122.5 billion at the end of September last year. The company said it also bought back 7 million shares of its common stock valued at $322 million. That leaves it with just under 78 million shares authorized by its board for repurchase.

"We remain committed to maintaining strong capital ratios on behalf of our policyholders and balancing our financial strength with increasing the dividend, repurchasing shares and reinvesting in our business," Amos said. "We continue to anticipate share repurchase will be in the range of $1.1 billion to $1.4 billion in 2018. At the same time, we recognize that prudent investment in our platform is also critical to our growth strategy, as well as driving efficiencies that will impact the bottom line for the long term."

Aflac's shares slide to near their 52-week low

Aflac released its third-quarter earnings report Wednesday after the close of the New York Stock Exchange. On a brutal trading day in which the Dow tumbled 608 points and the S&P 500 fell nearly 85 points, shares of Aflac slid $1.56 apiece, or 3.5 percent, finishing at $42.70. That's not far off the stock's 52-week trading low of $41.41 per share. The 52-week high is $48.19 per share.

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