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

Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-five research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $300.50.

Several research analysts recently commented on HUM shares. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Humana from $261.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Humana from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $519.00 to $253.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Humana from $387.00 to $290.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays upped their price target on Humana from $250.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Humana from $400.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th.

Humana Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HUM opened at $262.47 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $272.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $313.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 1.76. Humana has a 52 week low of $213.31 and a 52 week high of $471.37. The firm has a market cap of $31.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.55.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $4.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.68. Humana had a return on equity of 13.20% and a net margin of 1.18%. The company had revenue of $29.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.66 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Humana will post 16.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Humana Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.885 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. Humana’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Timothy S. Huval sold 3,703 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.26, for a total transaction of $948,930.78. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,181 shares in the company, valued at $2,096,463.06. This represents a 31.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Humana

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its stake in shares of Humana by 244.0% in the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 86 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in Humana in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Humana in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Humana during the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 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.