Humana (NYSE:HUM) Receives “Buy” Rating from Guggenheim

Guggenheim reissued their buy rating on shares of Humana (NYSE:HUM) in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports.

HUM has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Humana from $269.00 to $341.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Humana from $348.00 to $344.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Humana from $285.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Humana from $290.00 to $277.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Humana from $283.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $291.21.

Humana Stock Up 10.7%

HUM stock opened at $284.00 on Friday. Humana has a fifty-two week low of $206.87 and a fifty-two week high of $315.35. The business’s 50-day moving average is $274.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $257.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The company has a market cap of $34.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.42.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The insurance provider reported $6.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.32 by ($0.05). Humana had a net margin of 1.28% and a return on equity of 13.67%. The firm had revenue of $32.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.96 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Humana has set its FY 2025 guidance at 17.000- EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Humana will post 16.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Humana Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, September 26th will be given a dividend of $0.885 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 26th. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Humana’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.17%.

Institutional Trading of Humana

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Humana by 1.6% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,199,096 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,471,395,000 after purchasing an additional 226,224 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox grew its position in shares of Humana by 5.6% during the second quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 11,352,920 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,775,562,000 after purchasing an additional 597,705 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Humana by 1.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,377,390 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,319,334,000 after purchasing an additional 58,094 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Humana by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 4,076,667 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $996,664,000 after buying an additional 247,744 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Humana by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,130,829 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $762,233,000 after buying an additional 57,267 shares in the last quarter. 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.