Humana (NYSE:HUM) Shares Up 4.9% After Strong Earnings

Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)’s stock price was up 4.9% during trading on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as high as $270.88 and last traded at $270.51. Approximately 465,282 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 1,844,441 shares. The stock had previously closed at $257.77.

The insurance provider reported $4.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $29.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.66 billion. Humana had a net margin of 1.18% and a return on equity of 13.20%.

Humana Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.885 dividend. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Humana’s payout ratio is 31.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on HUM shares. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Humana from $400.00 to $260.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Leerink Partners downgraded shares of Humana from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $400.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $395.00 price objective on shares of Humana in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Humana from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $402.00 to $261.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Humana from $332.00 to $396.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Humana currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $315.48.

Institutional Trading of Humana

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Swedbank AB raised its position in Humana by 3.0% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 105,976 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $33,567,000 after acquiring an additional 3,085 shares during the period. Heritage Oak Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Humana in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,456,000. Mandatum Life Insurance Co Ltd raised its position in shares of Humana by 115.4% in the third quarter. Mandatum Life Insurance Co Ltd now owns 14,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,434,000 after purchasing an additional 7,500 shares during the period. APG Asset Management US Inc. raised its position in shares of Humana by 3.0% in the second quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. now owns 67,669 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,274,000 after purchasing an additional 1,955 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Humana by 0.4% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 61,897 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $21,462,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.38% of the company’s stock.

Humana Trading Down 3.2 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $298.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $334.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $31.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.50.

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.