Aflac is a supplemental life, health, and accident insurer with operations in the United States and Japan. The company generates about 75% of its revenue in Japan, with the remaining 25% coming from the United States.
Aflac is a very shareholder friendly company. The company has increased its dividend payments for 32 consecutive years. This makes Aflac a Dividend Aristocrat. The company’s commitment to share repurchases is equally as impressive.
CEO Daniel Amos had this to say about Aflac’s share repurchases in the company’s most recent quarterly report:
“We continue to believe our capital strength puts us in an excellent position to repatriate approximately Â¥200 billion to the United States for the calendar year 2015, which reinforces our plan to repurchase $1.3 billion of our common stock in 2015. As we said at our financial analysts briefing in May, we believe that over the next few years, we’ll be able to increase the capital available for deployment (emphasis added).â€
$1.3 billion is a lot of money for a company Aflac’s size. Aflac currently has a market cap of $27.8 billion. $1.3 billion in share repurchases comes to 4.7% of the company’s current market cap. Add in the company’s current dividend yield of 2.4%, and Aflac plans to return 7.1% to shareholders in the form of share repurchases and dividends in 2015.
Aflac expects to generate earnings-per-share of around $6.00 in 2015. The company plans to pay out about $4.50 per share in dividends and share repurchases in 2015, for a total payout ratio (including dividends and share repurchase) of 75%.
Aflac’s Growth Prospects
Aflac grew earnings-per-share at 10.3% a year over the last decade. The company managed solid earnings growth in a difficult time for insurance companies. This growth includes both the Great Recession, and a period of rapidly falling interest rates.
Low interest rates cause insurers to generate less profit from their insurance float. The higher interest rates are, the more profits can be squeezed out of the float.
