03:55 PM EDT, 03/13/2024 (MT Newswires) -- CFRA, an independent research provider, has provided MT Newswires with the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows:

We lift our 12-month target price by $5 to $87, valuing AFL shares at 12.8x our 2025 operating EPS estimate of $6.80 (raised by $0.20) and at 13.5x our 2024 operating EPS estimate of $6.45 (upped by $0.10). This compares to AFL's one-year average forward multiple of 12.4x and a disparate life insurer peer group average forward multiple of 8.3x. We expect sales in Japan (AFL's core market) to rise by 1% to 3% in 2024 and by 2% to 5% in 2025. We project sales in the U.S. to be up by 2% to 4% annually in both 2024 and 2025. These rates of growth are about in line with overall life insurance revenue growth and reflect some challenges AFL has had recently expanding its distribution platforms. At current levels, we view the shares as fairly valued versus peer and historical averages. We also note the significant impact that yen-dollar exchange rates have on AFL's results. During 2023, operating EPS of $6.23 included a $0.19 per share negative impact from a relatively weaker yen (versus the U.S. dollar).