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Humana (HUM) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know

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Humana (HUM - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $512.43, moving +0.85% from the previous trading session. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 1.45%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 1.05%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 5.88%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the health insurer had lost 5.61% over the past month. This has lagged the Medical sector's gain of 3.1% and the S&P 500's loss of 1.68% in that time.

Humana will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. On that day, Humana is projected to report earnings of $1.47 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 18.55%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $22.47 billion, up 6.71% from the prior-year quarter.

HUM's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $25.05 per share and revenue of $92.93 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +21.37% and +11.88%, respectively.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Humana should also be noted by investors. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.22% lower. Humana currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Humana has a Forward P/E ratio of 20.28 right now. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 19.56.

It is also worth noting that HUM currently has a PEG ratio of 1.44. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. HUM's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.26 as of yesterday's close.

The Medical - HMOs industry is part of the Medical sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 217, putting it in the bottom 14% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

To follow HUM in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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