Brokerages Set Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) Target Price at $315.86

Shares of Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty-five analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $315.86.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp assumed coverage on Humana in a report on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector weight” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Humana from $349.00 to $250.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Piper Sandler lowered Humana from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $392.00 to $274.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Humana from $332.00 to $396.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Humana from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $519.00 to $253.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th.

Humana Price Performance

Shares of Humana stock opened at $271.35 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $279.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $331.59. Humana has a one year low of $213.31 and a one year high of $527.18. The stock has a market cap of $32.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 1.76.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $4.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.68. Humana had a net margin of 1.18% and a return on equity of 13.20%. The company had revenue of $29.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.66 billion. Equities analysts expect that Humana will post 15.86 EPS for the current year.

Humana Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.885 per share. This represents a $3.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Humana’s payout ratio is currently 31.36%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Humana

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HUM. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Humana by 538.7% during the 2nd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 2,318,347 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $866,250,000 after acquiring an additional 1,955,375 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lifted its holdings in shares of Humana by 11,647.2% in the first quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 1,059,478 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $367,342,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050,459 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Humana by 118.9% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,425,302 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $532,564,000 after purchasing an additional 774,085 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Humana by 261,025.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 738,984 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,340,660,000 after purchasing an additional 738,701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Humana by 23.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,388,859 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,073,387,000 after purchasing an additional 643,291 shares in the last quarter. 92.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Humana

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.