Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. Invests $12.61 Million in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)

Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. purchased a new stake in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 36,360 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $12,607,000. Humana makes up approximately 1.2% of Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Humana in the 4th quarter valued at $676,800,000. Sanders Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Humana in the fourth quarter valued at about $489,300,000. Putnam Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Humana by 550.3% during the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 875,489 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $400,808,000 after buying an additional 740,858 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Humana by 255.4% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 620,793 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $215,241,000 after buying an additional 446,124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its position in Humana by 36,975.8% in the 1st quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 362,972 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $125,850,000 after acquiring an additional 361,993 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HUM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Raymond James assumed coverage on Humana in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Humana from $427.00 to $396.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Humana from $450.00 to $385.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Humana from $415.00 to $353.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Humana from $415.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Humana currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $409.55.

Humana Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Humana stock traded up $0.64 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $380.37. 276,795 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,766,668. Humana Inc. has a 52-week low of $298.61 and a 52-week high of $530.54. The company has a fifty day moving average of $354.15 and a 200-day moving average of $347.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.51.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The insurance provider reported $7.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.12 by $1.11. Humana had a return on equity of 17.76% and a net margin of 1.82%. The firm had revenue of $29.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Humana Inc. will post 16.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Humana Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a $0.885 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $3.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Humana’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.04%.

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.