{"id":47400,"date":"2026-04-11T06:51:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T06:51:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=47400"},"modified":"2026-04-11T06:51:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T06:51:15","slug":"ubs-trims-aflac-afl-target-sees-limited-wiggle-room-in-current-environment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=47400","title":{"rendered":"UBS Trims Aflac (AFL) Target, Sees \u201cLimited Wiggle-Room\u201d in Current Environment"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"yf-1fy9kyt\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:<a href=\"https:\/\/finance.yahoo.com\/quote\/AFL\" data-ylk=\"slk:AFL;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;AFL&quot;}\" class=\"link \">AFL<\/a>) is included among the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidermonkey.com\/blog\/15-best-cheap-dividend-stocks-to-buy-1735441\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:15 Best Cheap Dividend Stocks to Buy;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;15 Best Cheap Dividend Stocks to Buy&quot;}\" class=\"link \"><strong>15 Best Cheap Dividend Stocks to Buy<\/strong><\/a>.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --><\/p>\n<figure data-testid=\"article-figure-image\" class=\"yf-750ceo\">\n<div class=\"image-container yf-lglytj\" style=\"--max-height: 538px;\">\n<div class=\"image-wrapper yf-lglytj\" style=\"--aspect-ratio: 960 \/ 538; --img-max-width: 960px;\"><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"yf-750ceo\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->UBS Trims Aflac (AFL) Target, Sees \u201cLimited Wiggle-Room\u201d in Current Environment<!-- HTML_TAG_END -->  <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"yf-1fy9kyt\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->On April 9, UBS lowered its price recommendation on Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) to $114 from $116. It reiterated a Neutral rating on the shares. The update came as part of a Q1 earnings preview for the North American life insurance group. UBS said it expects continued attention on disability margins, with \u201crelatively limited wiggle-room\u201d given cyclicality and economic uncertainty. The firm also rolled its target forward to 2027 estimates from 2026.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --><\/p>\n<p class=\"yf-1fy9kyt\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->During the Q4 2025 earnings call, Max Broden, Senior EVP &amp; CFO, said most of the company\u2019s 2026 guidance remains in place, with some adjustments. In Japan, underlying earned premiums are expected to decline by 1% to 2%. The expense ratio is projected between 20% and 23%. He also noted that the benefit ratio is expected in the 60% to 63% range, with a pretax profit margin of 33% to 36%.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --><\/p>\n<p class=\"yf-1fy9kyt\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->For the US business, Broden said net earned premium growth is still expected at the lower end of the 3% to 6% range. The benefit ratio is projected between 48% and 52%. The expense ratio in the U.S. is expected to range from 36% to 39% as the company continues to expand its newer business lines.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --><\/p>\n<p class=\"yf-1fy9kyt\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) provides financial protection through its subsidiaries in the United States and Japan. Its core business focuses on supplemental health and life insurance products.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --><\/p>\n<p class=\"yf-1fy9kyt\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->While we acknowledge the potential of AFL as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you&#8217;re looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the<a class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/www.insidermonkey.com\/blog\/three-megatrends-one-overlooked-stock-massive-upside-1548959\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:\u00a0best short-term AI stock;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;&amp;nbsp&quot;}\">\u00a0<strong>best short-term AI stock<\/strong><\/a>.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --><\/p>\n<p class=\"yf-1fy9kyt\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START --><strong>READ NEXT:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidermonkey.com\/blog\/15-blue-chip-stocks-with-highest-dividends-1734502\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:15 Blue Chip Stocks with Highest Dividends;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;15 Blue Chip Stocks with Highest Dividends&quot;}\" class=\"link \">15 Blue Chip Stocks with Highest Dividends<\/a><b>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidermonkey.com\/blog\/13-bank-stocks-with-highest-dividends-1733684\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:13 Bank Stocks with Highest Dividends;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;13 Bank Stocks with Highest Dividends&quot;}\" class=\"link \">13 Bank Stocks with Highest Dividends<\/a><\/b><\/strong><!-- HTML_TAG_END --><\/p>\n<p class=\"yf-1fy9kyt\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->Disclosure: None. <a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqLQgKIidDQklTRndnTWFoTUtFV2x1YzJsa1pYSnRiMjVyWlhrdVkyOXRLQUFQAQ?hl=en-US&amp;gl=US&amp;ceid=US%3Aen\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Follow Insider Monkey on Google News;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Follow Insider Monkey on Google News&quot;}\" class=\"link \"><b>Follow Insider Monkey on Google News<\/b><\/a><b>.<\/b><!-- HTML_TAG_END --><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/finance.yahoo.com\/markets\/stocks\/articles\/ubs-trims-aflac-afl-target-035319027.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) is included among the 15 Best Cheap Dividend Stocks to Buy. UBS Trims Aflac (AFL) Target, Sees \u201cLimited Wiggle-Room\u201d in Current Environment On&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":47401,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=47400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/47401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=47400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=47400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=47400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}