Aflac Quacks the Code for Growth

AFLAC Incorporated (NYSE: AFL) shareholders have had plenty to cheer about in 2017. This year, the company's stock price has increased almost 15%, a good deal better than the S&P 500's return over the same time period. For a company known more for its impressive track record of dividend growth than for delivering capital gains appreciation, that's not too shabby!

When the company reported its second-quarter earnings, revenue was basically flat year-over-year, coming in at $5.4 billion. Earnings growth, however, was strong: Year-over-year, net earnings increased 30% to $713 million and diluted EPS increased almost 36% to $1.79.

While there are several factors that have gone into Aflac's market-beating returns this year, one aspect that might have slipped under most investors' radars is a key partnership Aflac forged with the Japan Post Holdings in 2013 that has paid increasing dividends to the company. In 2016, more than 20,000 post offices sold Aflac plans through this agreement.

Source: Fool.com