Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the twenty-two brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have issued a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $293.3684.

A number of research firms have weighed in on HUM. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Humana from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $253.00 to $313.00 in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Humana from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Humana from $280.00 to $264.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Humana in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Humana in a research note on Friday, December 12th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Humana

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HUM. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its stake in Humana by 54.4% in the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 105 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its position in shares of Humana by 136.0% in the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 118 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Humana in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in Humana during the third quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Private Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its stake in Humana by 47.5% during the third quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 149 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. 92.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Humana Stock Up 0.9%

NYSE:HUM opened at $270.32 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 2.02. Humana has a one year low of $206.87 and a one year high of $315.35. The company has a market cap of $32.51 billion, a PE ratio of 25.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $257.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $264.26.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The insurance provider reported $3.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.95 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $32.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.99 billion. Humana had a net margin of 1.02% and a return on equity of 12.86%. Humana’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.16 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Humana will post 16.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Humana Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 26th will be paid a $0.885 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 26th. This represents a $3.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Humana’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.18%.

Humana Company Profile

Humana Inc (NYSE: HUM) is a health insurance company headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, that primarily serves individuals and groups across the United States. The company is best known for its Medicare business, offering Medicare Advantage plans and prescription drug (Part D) coverage, alongside a range of commercial and employer-sponsored group health plans. Humana’s products are designed to cover medical, behavioral health and pharmacy needs for members, with particular emphasis on seniors and Medicare-eligible populations.

In addition to traditional insurance products, Humana provides care-management and wellness services intended to support chronic-condition management, preventive care and care coordination.