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5-Star Stocks Poised to Pop: AFLAC

Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, insurance giant AFLAC (NYSE: AFL  ) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at AFLAC's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

AFLAC facts

Headquarters (Founded) Columbus, Ga. (1955)
Market Cap $20.8 billion
Industry Life and health insurance
Trailing-12-Month Revenue $20.89 billion
Management Chairman/CEO Daniel Amos
President/CFO Kriss Cloninger III
Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years) 18.4%
Dividend Yield 2.7%
Competitors AIG (NYSE: AIG  )
MetLife (NYSE: MET  )
Prudential (NYSE: PRU  )

Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 96% of the 1,758 members who have rated AFLAC believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include FoolishElephant and TMFTypeoh.   

About a month ago, FoolishElephant tapped AFLAC as a tempting turnaround play: "Overly beaten down due to Japan disasters and investment portfolio exposures to Euro zone crises. AFL generates lots of cash in supplemental insurance market and has shown great focus in returning value to shareholders."

AFLAC even sports a solid three-year average return on capital of 14.3%. That's much higher than that of rivals like AIG (0.9%), MetLife (1.8%) and Prudential (2.1%).

CAPS member TMFTypeoh elaborates on the bargain opportunity:

Getting beat up due to japan woes....which aren't going away anytime soon, but neither is the duck. They've got a great dividend, plenty of chances to buy back shares, and a conservatively run business that has continued to grow through the recession. I'm in with real money, and love the duck commercials.

What do you think about AFLAC, or any other stock for that matter? If you want to retire rich, you need to put together the best portfolio you can. Owning exceptional stocks is a surefire way to secure your financial future, and on Motley Fool CAPS, thousands of investors are working every day to find them. CAPS is 100% free, so get started!  

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Fool contributor Brian Pacampara owns no position in any of the companies mentioned. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of AFLAC, and The Fool owns shares of it. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days.

We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Fool's disclosure policy always gets a perfect score.


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