The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) Lowered to “Buy” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Monday morning.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on CI. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of The Cigna Group from $384.00 to $377.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on The Cigna Group from $402.00 to $422.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of The Cigna Group from $435.00 to $438.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $410.00 price target on shares of The Cigna Group in a research note on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of The Cigna Group from $398.00 to $394.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, The Cigna Group currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $394.00.

The Cigna Group Stock Performance

NYSE:CI opened at $312.32 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $344.94 and a 200-day moving average of $341.23. The firm has a market cap of $86.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The Cigna Group has a twelve month low of $253.95 and a twelve month high of $370.83.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The health services provider reported $7.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.22 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $63.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.58 billion. The Cigna Group had a return on equity of 18.42% and a net margin of 1.31%. The firm’s revenue was up 29.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.77 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that The Cigna Group will post 28.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Cigna Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be given a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. The Cigna Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other The Cigna Group news, Director William J. Delaney III sold 2,691 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.68, for a total value of $922,151.88. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,010,264.52. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its stake in The Cigna Group by 23.6% in the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 661 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $229,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in The Cigna Group in the 3rd quarter worth $2,311,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Cigna Group by 2.0% in the third quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,915 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $3,089,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV boosted its position in shares of The Cigna Group by 8.3% during the third quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 3,210 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $1,112,000 after buying an additional 247 shares during the period. Finally, Buckingham Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of The Cigna Group by 13.1% during the third quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. now owns 708 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $245,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.99% of the company’s stock.

About The Cigna Group

The Cigna Group, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and related products and services in the United States. Its Evernorth Health Services segment provides a range of coordinated and point solution health services, including pharmacy benefits, home delivery pharmacy, specialty pharmacy, distribution, and care delivery and management solutions to health plans, employers, government organizations, and health care providers.