Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-five ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $315.86.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on HUM shares. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $395.00 price target on shares of Humana in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective 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. Bank of America upgraded shares of Humana from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $247.00 to $308.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Humana from $349.00 to $250.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Humana from $380.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th.

Humana Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of HUM stock opened at $275.67 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $283.00 and a 200-day moving average of $331.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Humana has a 12-month low of $213.31 and a 12-month high of $527.18. The firm has a market cap of $33.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.42, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.52.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $4.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.68. Humana had a net margin of 1.18% and a return on equity of 13.20%. The company had revenue of $29.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.66 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Humana will post 15.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Humana Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.885 per share. This represents a $3.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Humana’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.36%.

Institutional Trading of Humana

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mendota Financial Group LLC raised its position in Humana by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 319 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $119,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its position in Humana by 17.0% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 213 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. raised its position in Humana by 111.4% in the 2nd quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 74 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its position in Humana by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 1,639 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $519,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. raised its position in Humana by 10.5% in the 2nd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 432 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $161,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. 92.38% of the stock is owned by 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.