Stephens Reaffirms Equal Weight Rating for Humana (NYSE:HUM)

Stephens reiterated their equal weight rating on shares of Humana (NYSE:HUM) in a research note published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $250.00 price target on the insurance provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on HUM. Leerink Partners downgraded shares of Humana from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and cut their price target for the stock from $400.00 to $250.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group decreased their price target on Humana from $380.00 to $250.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Leerink Partnrs downgraded Humana from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a neutral rating and issued a $395.00 price objective on shares of Humana in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, TD Cowen lowered shares of Humana from a buy rating to a hold rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $402.00 to $261.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Humana presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $315.33.

Humana Stock Performance

Shares of Humana stock opened at $258.07 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $324.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $340.20. The company has a market cap of $31.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.41, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66. Humana has a one year low of $213.31 and a one year high of $530.54.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The insurance provider reported $6.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.52 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $8.94 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Humana will post 16.06 EPS for the current year.

Humana Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.885 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $3.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Humana’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.25%.

Institutional Trading of Humana

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Willner & Heller LLC grew its holdings in shares of Humana by 17.2% during the third quarter. Willner & Heller LLC now owns 1,562 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $495,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Humana by 32.4% in the third quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,499 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $475,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Humana during the third quarter worth approximately $348,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Humana by 6.1% during the third quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 3,112 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $986,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its position in Humana by 49.6% in the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 4,827 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,532,000 after buying an additional 1,600 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.38% of the company’s stock.

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.