Saturday, June 14, 2014

10 Reasons why I bought Aflac

I already mentioned earlier that I've opened a position in Aflac. What are my reasons for buying this company? I've got at least 10!
  1. Great business model: getting paid up front (premiums), earn investment income from these premiums (float) and deduct incurred losses. It's simple as that and the insurance industry is here to stay for decades to come.
  2. Sturdy revenue growth. In last decade Aflac has increased revenue 7% per year (CAGR)
  3. Increased profitability. In the same decade, the operating earnings per share grew by 14% per year.
  4. Enough oppurtunities for revenue growth in the future, both in Japan and USA.
  5. Dividend champion: this company has raised dividends for over 31 consecutive years. In the last decade Aflac raised dividends with on average 15% per year. The dividend growth rate has been slightly lower in the last few years however.
  6. Pay-out ratio: Aflac only pays out 21% of its earnings to shareholders. This provides ample safety in the dividend and future increases.
  7. Share repurchases: in the last decade Aflac retires between 1-1.5% of their outstanding shares per year.
  8. Great balance sheet: debt/equity-ratio of only 0.3. Interest coverage ratio of over 16x.
  9. Valuation: with a price/earnings-ratio of 9.5 it is really cheap to purchase shares in such a quality company.
  10. Diversification in my DGI portfolio: before this purchase I had no exposure to any insurance company.
To summarize, I've bought 28 shares @ $61.45 per share. This purchase adds around €30 to my annual forward income. As of now my DGI portfolio will earn €675 per year.


4 comments:

  1. Hi Robin
    Congrats, good purchase! Aflac is also at my Watchlist. Still hoping, that it would drop a bit.
    Regards
    DH

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  2. Good pick and a great summary of the reasons. I have it on my watchlist and wish I had more free capital to invest.

    regards

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  3. You don't have to convince me about reasons to own AFL. I have had it since 2007 and plan to keep it for a long time. All the reasons you mention are good. My favorite reason is the average dividend increase year after year. The dividend growth rate for AFL has been amazing. Thanks for sharing.

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  4. Nice timing. I added to my AFL position this week. Agree with all of your reasons. They are a solid company.

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