The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at Guggenheim

Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) in a research note published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $384.00 price target on the health services provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on CI. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of The Cigna Group from $390.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $348.00 target price (down from $394.00) on shares of The Cigna Group in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on The Cigna Group from $350.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on The Cigna Group from $370.00 to $341.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of The Cigna Group from $400.00 to $375.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $375.00.

The Cigna Group Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE CI opened at $329.52 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $312.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $311.31. The stock has a market cap of $90.18 billion, a PE ratio of 26.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The Cigna Group has a 52-week low of $262.03 and a 52-week high of $370.83.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The health services provider reported $6.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.84 by ($1.20). The Cigna Group had a return on equity of 18.61% and a net margin of 1.39%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.79 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that The Cigna Group will post 29.77 earnings per share for the current year.

The Cigna Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a $1.51 dividend. This is an increase from The Cigna Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. The Cigna Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other The Cigna Group news, CEO David Cordani sold 26,527 shares of The Cigna Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.12, for a total transaction of $8,173,499.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 127,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,367,568.04. The trade was a 17.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Nicole S. Jones sold 4,904 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.12, for a total transaction of $1,511,020.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,421 shares in the company, valued at $9,065,198.52. This represents a 14.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 43,751 shares of company stock valued at $13,603,991. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of The Cigna Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of The Cigna Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $867,785,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in The Cigna Group in the 4th quarter valued at $724,517,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Cigna Group by 58,799.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,774,626 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $583,852,000 after purchasing an additional 1,771,613 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of The Cigna Group during the fourth quarter worth $313,911,000. Finally, GQG Partners LLC grew its position in shares of The Cigna Group by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 4,021,582 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $1,110,520,000 after purchasing an additional 737,099 shares during the period. 86.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

The Cigna Group Company Profile

The Cigna Group, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and related products and services in the United States. Its Evernorth Health Services segment provides a range of coordinated and point solution health services, including pharmacy benefits, home delivery pharmacy, specialty pharmacy, distribution, and care delivery and management solutions to health plans, employers, government organizations, and health care providers.