Piper Sandler Downgrades Humana (NYSE:HUM) to Neutral

Piper Sandler cut shares of Humana (NYSE:HUM) from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a research report released on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. Piper Sandler currently has $274.00 price objective on the insurance provider’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $392.00.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on HUM. Leerink Partnrs lowered Humana from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Humana from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Humana from $396.00 to $407.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Humana from $400.00 to $280.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Stephens cut shares of Humana from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and lowered their target price for the company from $400.00 to $250.00 in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $357.24.

Humana Stock Down 0.7 %

Humana stock opened at $240.03 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $337.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $342.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Humana has a twelve month low of $213.31 and a twelve month high of $530.54. The company has a market capitalization of $28.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.50.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The insurance provider reported $6.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.89 by $1.07. Humana had a return on equity of 16.12% and a net margin of 1.53%. The business had revenue of $29.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $8.94 earnings per share. Humana’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Humana will post 16.01 EPS for the current year.

Humana Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $0.885 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $3.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. Humana’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.04%.

Institutional Trading of Humana

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. grew its position in Humana by 111.4% in the second quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 74 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Humana in the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Humana in the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Humana during the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Humana during the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.38% of the company’s stock.

Humana Company Profile

Humana Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides medical and specialty insurance products in the United States. It operates through two segments, Insurance and CenterWell. The company offers medical and supplemental benefit plans to individuals. It has a contract with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to administer the Limited Income Newly Eligible Transition prescription drug plan program; and contracts with various states to provide Medicaid, dual eligible, and long-term support services benefits.