Earnings from AFLAC and Fiserv

After the bell, two of our Buy List stocks reported earnings. AFLAC (AFL) said that it netted of 59 cents a share (excluding charges) for the fourth quarter. This was slightly below Wall Street’s forecast of 63 cents a share. However, AFLAC lost three cents a share due to currency translation. The company does most of its business in Japan.
AFLAC is one of my favorite stocks. It’s one of those stocks that consistently delivers. The company also reiterated its EPS growth forecast of 15%-16% for this fiscal year, and raised its dividend from 11 cents to 13 cents a share.
Don’t let the earnings miss fool you, this was a good quarter for AFLAC. Assuming AFLAC earns $2.92 a share for this year, the stock is going for a very reasonable 16 times earnings, which is in line with its growth rate. This is a solid, steady grower. I wish I knew how to quit this stock.
The other stock, Fiserv (FISV), reported earnings of 81 cents a share. Discounting the company’s newly acquired check-processing operations Fiserv earned 56 cents a share which was in line with analysts’ estimates. The company said that it expects to earn $2.46 to $2.53 a share for this year, so it’s trading around 18 times earnings. This is another high-quality stock.
In today’s market, Sysco (SYY) finished 6.2% higher. Only five of our 20 stocks rose, but Sysco’s big day helped the Buy List eek out a 0.03% gain. The S&P 500 rose 0.12%.
Our next earnings report is SEI Investments (SEIC) which is due on Wednesday. Expeditors (EXPD) is also due soon, but they haven’t said what day.
And finally, CNN reported:

The latest Census Bureau report shows median prices for new residences sold in December fell 1.5 percent from the previous month to $221,800. Half of the homes sold for more than the median, the rest for less.

Posted by on January 30th, 2006 at 10:33 pm


The information in this blog post represents my own opinions and does not contain a recommendation for any particular security or investment. I or my affiliates may hold positions or other interests in securities mentioned in the Blog, please see my Disclaimer page for my full disclaimer.