Humana (NYSE:HUM) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Buy” Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Humana (NYSE:HUM) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other brokerages have also commented on HUM. Leerink Partners raised Humana from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $513.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $405.00 price objective on shares of Humana in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Humana from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $227.00 to $502.00 in a report on Monday, July 13th. Piper Sandler upgraded Humana from a “hold” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $463.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Humana from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $403.91.

Humana Stock Performance

NYSE:HUM opened at $385.81 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $388.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $310.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market cap of $46.33 billion, a PE ratio of 36.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.74. Humana has a fifty-two week low of $163.11 and a fifty-two week high of $428.88.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The insurance provider reported $7.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.27 by $0.34. Humana had a net margin of 0.88% and a return on equity of 11.20%. The firm had revenue of $40.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $6.27 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Humana will post 9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Humana Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.885 per share. This represents a $3.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. Humana’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.49%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Humana

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HUM. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Humana by 10.5% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 70,185 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $27,879,000 after acquiring an additional 6,690 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Humana by 55.6% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,753 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,285,000 after acquiring an additional 2,055 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Humana by 24.5% during the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 470,587 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $186,927,000 after acquiring an additional 92,496 shares during the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new stake in Humana during the 2nd quarter worth about $14,142,000. Finally, Cidel Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Humana by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,883 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,542,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.38% of the company’s stock.

Humana Company Profile

Humana Inc (NYSE:HUM) is a U.S.-based health insurance and health care services company focused primarily on government-sponsored programs. Its offerings include Medicare Advantage plans, Medicare prescription drug plans, Medicaid coverage and specialty insurance products, serving individuals, employers and government organizations.

Through its CenterWell business, Humana also provides senior-focused primary care, pharmacy services and home health care. These operations are designed to support coordinated care for older adults and other members with ongoing health care needs.

Humana was founded in 1961 as a nursing-home company and later expanded into hospital ownership before shifting its focus toward health insurance.