Bank of America Lowers Humana (NYSE:HUM) to Underperform

by · The Cerbat Gem

Bank of America cut shares of Humana (NYSE:HUM – Free Report) from a neutral rating to an underperform rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $247.00 target price on the insurance provider’s stock, down from their previous target price of $376.00.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler began coverage on Humana in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. They set an overweight rating and a $392.00 price objective for the company. Stephens downgraded Humana from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $400.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Humana from $341.00 to $349.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Leerink Partners downgraded Humana from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $400.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Humana from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Humana currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $357.24.

View Our Latest Research Report on HUM

Humana Stock Performance

HUM opened at $240.03 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $28.92 billion, a PE ratio of 14.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.50. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $337.70 and a 200-day moving average of $342.42. Humana has a 52-week low of $213.31 and a 52-week high of $530.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66.

Humana (NYSE:HUM – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The insurance provider reported $6.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.89 by $1.07. Humana had a return on equity of 16.12% and a net margin of 1.53%. The company had revenue of $29.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $8.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Humana will post 16.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Humana Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $0.885 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Humana’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.04%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Humana

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Heritage Oak Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Humana during the second quarter worth $3,456,000. AdvisorShares Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Humana during the fourth quarter worth $421,000. APG Asset Management US Inc. grew its stake in shares of Humana by 3.0% during the second quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. now owns 67,669 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,274,000 after purchasing an additional 1,955 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Humana by 0.4% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 61,897 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $21,462,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Humana by 472.1% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 10,098 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,501,000 after purchasing an additional 8,333 shares during the period. 92.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Humana

(Get Free Report)

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.

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