Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) Short Interest Update

Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,380,000 shares, a growth of 15.9% from the October 15th total of 3,780,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,230,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days. Approximately 3.7% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Humana Price Performance

NYSE:HUM opened at $275.67 on Monday. 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 price-to-earnings ratio of 24.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.52. The company’s 50-day moving average is $281.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $331.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $4.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.68. The company had revenue of $29.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.66 billion. Humana had a return on equity of 13.20% and a net margin of 1.18%. Research analysts expect that Humana will post 15.86 EPS 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 paid 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 Investors Weigh In On Humana

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HUM. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in Humana by 244.0% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 86 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Humana by 111.4% in the second quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 74 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Humana during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Humana in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Your Advocates Ltd. LLP boosted its holdings in Humana by 81.8% during the third quarter. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP now owns 100 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on HUM. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Humana from $387.00 to $290.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $395.00 target price on shares of Humana in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Piper Sandler downgraded Humana from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $392.00 to $274.00 in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Humana in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They set a “sector weight” rating for the company. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Humana from $261.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $315.86.

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.