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Here's How Much You'd Have If You Invested $1000 in Molina a Decade Ago

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How much a stock's price changes over time is a significant driver for most investors. Not only can price performance impact your portfolio, but it can help you compare investment results across sectors and industries as well.

Another thing that can drive investing is the fear of missing out, or FOMO. This particularly applies to tech giants and popular consumer-facing stocks.

What if you'd invested in Molina (MOH - Free Report) ten years ago? It may not have been easy to hold on to MOH for all that time, but if you did, how much would your investment be worth today?

Molina's Business In-Depth

With that in mind, let's take a look at Molina's main business drivers.

Founded in 1980 and headquartered in Long Beach, CA, Molina Healthcare Inc. is a multi-state managed care organization participating exclusively in government-sponsored healthcare programs such as the Medicaid program and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), catering to low-income persons. It is a FORTUNE 500 company.

The company provides managed healthcare services under the Medicaid and Medicare programs, and through the state insurance marketplaces (the Marketplace). Molina Healthcare expects its 2022 business to witness reduced impacts from COVID. Strong Medicare and Medicaid performance will buoy results.

Molina Healthcare was formerly known as American Family Care Inc. until it changed its name in Mar 2000. The company currently operates in two segments: Health Plans and Other. The company manages most of its operations through the Health Plans segment.

The Other segment mainly includes the results of the Pathways behavioral health unit, which Molina sold in the fourth quarter of 2018 apart from other corporate amounts not allocated to the segment.

As of Dec 31, 2021, the company served around 5.2 million members through its locally-operated health plans across several markets, indicating a 29% year-over-year increase. This is reflective of an improving business scenario.

The health plans are locally operated by wholly owned subsidiaries of Molina, each of which is licensed as a health maintenance organization, or HMO. Molina Healthcare derives revenues primarily from premiums paid to its health plans by the relevant state Medicaid authority. The premium revenues are jointly financed by the federal government and the states.

The company also derives revenues from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in connection with its Medicare services.

Bottom Line

While anyone can invest, building a lucrative investment portfolio takes research, patience, and a little bit of risk. If you had invested in Molina ten years ago, you're probably feeling pretty good about your investment today.

According to our calculations, a $1000 investment made in March 2012 would be worth $9,821.85, or a gain of 882.19%, as of March 7, 2022, and this return excludes dividends but includes price increases.

In comparison, the S&P 500 gained 216.06% and the price of gold went up 12.25% over the same time frame.

Going forward, analysts are expecting more upside for MOH.

Molina’s shares have outperformed the industry in a year. The company is poised for growth on the back of its developmental strategies, improving top line and margin recovery. It began an enterprise-wide restructuring program to streamline structure to improve operational efficiency. Its upbeat 2022 guidance instils investors’ confidence. Robust performing Medicare and Medicaid businesses on the back of contract wins and strategic initiatives will buoy results. It reported strong fourth-quarter results supported by increased membership and premiums. Its balance sheet strength and free cash flow generation ability are impressive. However, its stretched valuation is worrisome. Also, a high MCR ratio indicates a smaller amount of premium will be left over after paying insurance claims. As such, the stock warrants a cautious stance.

Shares have gained 8.32% over the past four weeks and there have been 5 higher earnings estimate revisions for fiscal 2022 compared to none lower. The consensus estimate has moved up as well.

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