Humana Inc. (HUM) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.89 on January 31st

Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 24th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.885 per share by the insurance provider on Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st.

Humana has raised its dividend payment by an average of 12.3% per year over the last three years. Humana has a dividend payout ratio of 20.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Humana to earn $16.89 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.54 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 21.0%.

Humana Stock Performance

Humana stock opened at $255.64 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $273.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $317.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $30.78 billion, a PE ratio of 22.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.53. Humana has a twelve month low of $213.31 and a twelve month high of $475.00.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $4.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.68. The company had revenue of $29.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.66 billion. Humana had a return on equity of 13.20% and a net margin of 1.18%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Humana will post 16.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Humana from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $308.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Humana from $400.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Humana from $400.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America raised Humana from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $247.00 to $308.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs lowered Humana from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Humana presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $300.50.

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.