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Humana (HUM) Rewards Shareholders With a 12.4% Dividend Hike

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Humana Inc. (HUM - Free Report) recently announced that its board of directors increased its cash dividend to 88.50 cents per share from 78.75 cents, reflecting a 12.4% jump from the prior payout. This move highlights the company’s sound financial position and commitment to rewarding shareholders.

The dividend will be paid on Apr 28, 2023, to shareholders of record as of Mar 31. The company currently has a dividend yield of 0.7%, based on the closing share price of $505.69 on Feb 16. However, the figure is lower than the industry average of 1.1%.

Humana has built an impressive track record of dividend hikes. It paid out dividends of $101 million to its shareholders during fourth-quarter 2022. With its strong financials, the company is expected to be on track of boosting shareholder value with dividend hikes as well as share repurchases.

In the last reported quarter alone, Humana bought back shares worth $1.1 billion. As of Jan 31, 2023, it had a remaining buyback capacity of $1 billion.

Its capital position with strong cash-generating abilities and a solid balance sheet will likely support its future shareholder-friendly moves. Last year, the company generated operating cash flows of $4,587 million, which increased 102.8% year over year.

Moreover, it exited 2022 with cash and cash equivalents of $5,061 million, which rose 49.1% from the 2021-end figure while short-term debt amounted to only $2,092 million.

Price Performance

Humana’s shares have improved 19.1% in the past year compared with the 4.3% rise of the industry it belongs to.

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Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Humana currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the broader medical space are MannKind Corporation (MNKD - Free Report) , MedAvail Holdings, Inc. and Canopy Growth Corporation (CGC - Free Report) , all carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MannKind’s 2023 earnings indicates a 59.6% year-over-year improvement. MNKD has witnessed one upward estimate revision in the past 30 days against none in the opposite direction. It beat earnings estimates by 40% in the last quarter.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MedAvail Holdings’ 2022 bottom line indicates a 35.1% improvement from the prior-year reported number and it remained stable over the past week.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Canopy Growth’s 2023 bottom line indicates a 91.7% year-over-year improvement. CGC has witnessed five upward estimate revisions in the past 30 days against none in the opposite direction.


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