Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) Short Interest Down 6.2% in August

Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,110,000 shares, a drop of 6.2% from the August 15th total of 2,250,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,190,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days. Approximately 1.8% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Humana

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Humana by 538.7% in the second quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 2,318,347 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $866,250,000 after purchasing an additional 1,955,375 shares in the last quarter. Davis Selected Advisers grew its position in shares of Humana by 16.1% in the second quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 2,311,362 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $863,640,000 after purchasing an additional 321,233 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of Humana by 118.9% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,425,302 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $532,564,000 after purchasing an additional 774,085 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Humana by 2.1% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,183,985 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $442,396,000 after purchasing an additional 24,842 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Humana in the fourth quarter valued at $489,300,000. 92.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Humana from $355.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Humana from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Humana from $341.00 to $349.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Baird R W upgraded Humana to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Humana from $332.00 to $396.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $398.70.

Humana Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE:HUM traded up $2.86 on Wednesday, hitting $314.66. The stock had a trading volume of 556,322 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,634,853. The business’s fifty day moving average is $361.77 and its 200 day moving average is $346.39. The company has a market cap of $37.92 billion, a PE ratio of 19.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. 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 52 week low of $298.61 and a 52 week high of $530.54.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The insurance provider reported $6.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.89 by $1.07. The company had revenue of $29.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.52 billion. Humana had a return on equity of 16.12% and a net margin of 1.53%. Humana’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $8.94 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Humana will post 16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Humana Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.885 per share. This represents a $3.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Humana’s payout ratio is 22.04%.

About Humana

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.