12:20 AM EDT, 05/03/2024 (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 keep our 12-month target price of $87, valuing AFL shares at 12.8x our '25 operating EPS estimate of $6.80 and at 13.6x our '24 EPS estimate of $6.42 (trimmed today by $0.03), versus their three-year average forward multiple of 11.9x and a peer average of 7.7x. Q1 operating EPS of $1.66 versus $1.55 was a bit shy of our $1.69 EPS estimate but topped the $1.58 consensus view. Results reflected 6.3% lower premium revenues and a 6% rise in investment income. Margins benefited from a 6.5% drop in claim costs. We see mixed top line trends for the remainder of 2024, and expect sales in both Japan and the U.S. to grow by less than 5%. While AFL's mix of business is less volatile than many peers, and should help support the shares' premium valuation versus peers, we view the shares, currently trading at 13.1x our '24 operating EPS estimate and a 70% premium to the peer group average, as fairly valued.