Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) Receives Consensus Rating of "Hold" from Brokerages

Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Hold" from the twenty-three ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $280.76.

HUM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Humana from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays set a $268.00 target price on Humana and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Humana from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Humana from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $315.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of Humana in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $326.00 target price on the stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HUM. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in Humana by 63.9% during the first quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 118 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA boosted its holdings in Humana by 56.3% in the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 125 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in Humana in the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Humana during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Humana in the first quarter worth $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.38% of the company's stock.

Humana Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE HUM traded up $0.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $242.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 96,082 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,712,556. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.13, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.43. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $241.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $259.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Humana has a twelve month low of $212.45 and a twelve month high of $406.46.

Humana (NYSE:HUM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $11.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $10.07 by $1.51. Humana had a net margin of 1.42% and a return on equity of 14.47%. The company had revenue of $32.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $7.23 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Humana will post 16.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Humana Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.885 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. This represents a $3.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. Humana's payout ratio is 25.04%.

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.