Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) Short Interest Up 41.6% in October

Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,780,000 shares, an increase of 41.6% from the September 30th total of 2,670,000 shares. Approximately 3.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,080,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its stake in shares of Humana by 244.0% during the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 86 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Humana by 111.4% during the 2nd quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 74 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new position in Humana during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP raised its holdings in shares of Humana by 81.8% in the 3rd quarter. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP now owns 100 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Humana during the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 92.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Humana Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:HUM traded down $3.32 on Tuesday, hitting $257.77. 1,774,621 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,851,010. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.50. Humana has a 12 month low of $213.31 and a 12 month high of $527.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $302.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $335.58.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The insurance provider reported $6.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.89 by $1.07. The company had revenue of $29.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.52 billion. Humana had a net margin of 1.53% and a return on equity of 16.12%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $8.94 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Humana will post 16.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Humana Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.885 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Humana’s payout ratio is 22.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HUM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of Humana in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They set a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Bank of America downgraded shares of Humana from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $376.00 to $247.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Leerink Partners lowered Humana from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $400.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Humana from $380.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Humana from $400.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Humana presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $315.33.

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.