Humana (NYSE:HUM) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.68 EPS

Humana (NYSE:HUM) issued its earnings results on Wednesday. The insurance provider reported $4.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.68, reports. The business had revenue of $29.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.66 billion. Humana had a net margin of 1.18% and a return on equity of 13.20%. Humana updated its FY 2024 guidance to 16.000- EPS and its FY24 guidance to at least $16.00 EPS.

Humana Price Performance

Humana stock opened at $257.83 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $298.90 and a 200-day moving average of $334.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.76. Humana has a 52 week low of $213.31 and a 52 week high of $527.18.

Humana Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.885 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Humana’s payout ratio is 31.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on HUM shares. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Humana from $400.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Humana from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $308.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Leerink Partners downgraded Humana from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $400.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays increased their price target on Humana from $250.00 to $253.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Humana from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $376.00 to $247.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $315.48.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HUM. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its stake in shares of Humana by 244.0% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 86 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. boosted its position in Humana by 111.4% in the second quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 74 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Humana during the third quarter worth $29,000. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP grew its stake in shares of Humana by 81.8% during the third quarter. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP now owns 100 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Humana during the second quarter worth $35,000. 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.