SOL Capital Management CO Grows Position in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)

SOL Capital Management CO grew its stake in shares of Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) by 13.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,908 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,608 shares during the quarter. SOL Capital Management CO’s holdings in Humana were worth $3,680,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Humana by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,829,210 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,254,899,000 after purchasing an additional 1,751,857 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox raised its holdings in shares of Humana by 106.7% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 10,198,040 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,587,345,000 after acquiring an additional 5,264,045 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Humana by 44.0% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 3,609,382 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $915,736,000 after acquiring an additional 1,103,132 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Humana by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,883,614 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $729,658,000 after acquiring an additional 63,562 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Humana by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,397,808 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $608,348,000 after acquiring an additional 550,692 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.38% of the company’s stock.

Humana Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HUM opened at $238.69 on Thursday. Humana Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.45 and a 1-year high of $406.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.91. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $242.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $260.05. The company has a market capitalization of $28.81 billion, a PE ratio of 16.88, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.43.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $11.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.07 by $1.51. Humana had a return on equity of 14.47% and a net margin of 1.42%. The firm had revenue of $32.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $7.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Humana Inc. will post 16.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Humana Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.885 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. Humana’s payout ratio is presently 25.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on HUM. Bank of America decreased their target price on Humana from $320.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Raymond James Financial upgraded Humana from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $315.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Humana from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Guggenheim began coverage on Humana in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $326.00 target price for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on Humana from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $280.76.

Humana 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.