Humana (NYSE:HUM) Lifted to Outperform at Sanford C. Bernstein

Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Humana (NYSE:HUM) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $308.00 target price on the insurance provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Humana from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Bank of America lowered Humana from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and dropped their target price for the company from $376.00 to $247.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Leerink Partners lowered Humana from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and lowered their price target for the company from $400.00 to $250.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Humana from a buy rating to a hold rating and lowered their price target for the company from $519.00 to $253.00 in a report on Monday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a neutral rating and issued a $395.00 price target on shares of Humana in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Humana presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $322.00.

Humana Trading Up 2.4 %

HUM opened at $251.36 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $30.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.50. Humana has a 12 month low of $213.31 and a 12 month high of $530.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $329.03 and a 200 day moving average of $341.40.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The insurance provider reported $6.96 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $29.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $8.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Humana will post 16.06 EPS for the current year.

Humana Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.885 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. Humana’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.25%.

Institutional Trading of Humana

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Humana by 111.4% during the 2nd quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 74 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Humana during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Humana during the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in Humana in the 2nd quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new position in Humana in the 2nd quarter worth $40,000. 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.