Magellan Health Tops Street

Magellan Health Services Inc. (MGLN - Snapshot Report) reported third quarter results last Friday. The company posted a 31.9% growth in net income to $31.0 million or 88 cents per share, compared to $23.5 million or 58 cents per share in the year-ago period, and easily surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 21 cents. The strong result was primarily driven by the acquisition of First Health coupled with the solid performance of the Specialty Pharmacy segment.

Magellan Health offers managed behavioral healthcare, radiology benefits management and pharmaceutical management services to health plans, insurance companies, corporations, labor unions and various governmental agencies in the U.S. During July this year, the company completed the acquisition of First Health Services Corp., a subsidiary of Coventry Health Care Inc. (CVH - Analyst Report). First Health provides pharmacy benefits administration, health care management and IT services to state Medicaid programs.

The company said net revenues recorded a growth of 1.7% to $667.6 million, from $656.5 million in the prior-year quarter. The expansion was primarily driven by increased memberships, acquisition of First Health, new contracts and solid growth in the Specialty Pharmacy segment. However, growth in net revenues was partially offset by contract terminations and impact of minimum loss ratio requirements in public sector contracts.

Magellan Health also announced that it has entered into a deal with WellCare Health Plans Inc. (WCG - Snapshot Report) to manage behavioral health services for all WellCare markets. Magellan expects the 3-year contract to add approximately 900,000 Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries and generate incremental annual revenue of $60 million. The contract expands on Magellan’s existing contract with WellCare in the state of Georgia.

During the first 9 months of the year, Magellan generated $100.6 million of cash from operations, deploying $115.4 million towards acquisitions and $25.8 million towards capital expenditure. The company also utilized $213.4 million towards purchase of investments, while proceeds from matured investments were $247.6 million. The company also stated that it has repurchased 115,275 shares during the quarter for a total consideration of $3.7 million as per an ongoing $100 million share buyback program.

Meanwhile, bolstered by the better-than-expected quarterly performance, Magellan raised its full-year earnings guidance. The company now expects full-year net income to range between $85.3 million to $95.5 million, which equates to earnings per share of $2.41 to $2.70. Magellan earlier projected earnings per share to range between $2.04 and $2.59.