Humana (NYSE:HUM) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

Humana (NYSE:HUM) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Humana from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Humana from $270.00 to $322.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Humana from $270.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Humana from $301.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Raymond James raised Humana from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $315.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Humana has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $287.76.

Humana Price Performance

Shares of HUM opened at $249.67 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $265.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $270.38. Humana has a 1-year low of $213.31 and a 1-year high of $406.46. The company has a market cap of $30.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.09, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.49.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $11.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.07 by $1.51. Humana had a net margin of 1.02% and a return on equity of 11.70%. The company had revenue of $32.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $7.23 EPS. Humana’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Humana will post 16.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Humana

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Humana by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 170,636 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $54,047,000 after acquiring an additional 3,961 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Humana by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 9,679 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,487,000 after purchasing an additional 602 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Humana by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,848 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,245,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Humana by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 1,026 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Finally, Atlas Brown Inc. boosted its position in Humana by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 6,352 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,611,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. 92.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.