Aetna, Aflac, WellPoint rise following earnings releases

Aflac Inc. (NYSE: AFL) said Wednesday that its third-quarter revenues rose 22.6% from a year ago to $4.5 billion, benefited by currency exchange rates. Earnings per share rose 22.5% to $1.25, beating the Street view. Aflac's board of directors also declared the fourth-quarter cash dividend of $.28 per share. And it forecast fourth-quarter earnings to be in the range of $1.08 to $1.16, in line with analysts' expectations.

Torchmark Corp. (NYSE: TMK) reported Wednesday that its net operating income came to $1.48 per share, just missing expectations, as well as a 2% per share decrease year over year. Total revenues for the quarter increased 4.0% to $784.85 million. Analysts estimated revenues of $812.23 million. Torchmark now projects that net income per share will range from $5.90 to $5.95 for the full year, which is less than the Street view.

WellPoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP) announced that its third quarter net income totaled $730.2 million, or $1.53 per share, down from $1.60 per share in the same period of last year, but topping analysts' estimates. Revenue for the quarter came to $15.43 billion, up from $14.96 billion a year ago. WellPoint said that it expects its full year net income to be in the range of $5.06 to $5.12 per share.

MetLife Inc. (NYSE: MET) is scheduled to report after the closing bell Thursday. Analysts are looking for MetLife to have swung from the second-quarter loss to a profit of $0.87 per share on revenue of $12.25 billion.

Shares of all of these insurers, with the exception of Torchmark, were higher at mid day on Thursday.

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