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

Shares of Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-one ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $423.63.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on HUM shares. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Humana in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $374.00 price target for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $360.00 target price on shares of Humana in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Humana from $334.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Humana from $427.00 to $396.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Humana from $450.00 to $385.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd.

Humana Stock Performance

Shares of HUM stock opened at $349.55 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $42.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.77, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $337.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $357.54. Humana has a 52 week low of $298.61 and a 52 week high of $530.54.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The insurance provider reported $7.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.12 by $1.11. The firm had revenue of $29.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.52 billion. Humana had a net margin of 1.82% and a return on equity of 17.76%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $9.38 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Humana will post 16.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Humana Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a dividend of $0.885 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. Humana’s payout ratio is presently 22.04%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Humana during the 4th quarter valued at $1,977,000. Auxano Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Humana during the 4th quarter valued at about $540,000. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Humana by 46.2% during the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 42,287 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $19,359,000 after purchasing an additional 13,356 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Humana during the 4th quarter valued at about $421,000. Finally, Mariner LLC increased its position in shares of Humana by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 14,119 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,869,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. 92.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.