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Humana (HUM) Falls More Steeply Than Broader Market: What Investors Need to Know

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The latest trading session saw Humana (HUM - Free Report) ending at $461.46, denoting a -1.62% adjustment from its last day's close. The stock's change was less than the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.01%. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a rise of 0.15%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw an increase of 0.36%.

Heading into today, shares of the health insurer had lost 8.55% over the past month, lagging the Medical sector's gain of 5.79% and the S&P 500's gain of 5.21% in that time.

The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Humana in its forthcoming earnings report. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $2.13, marking a 31.48% rise compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $25.38 billion, up 13.12% from the year-ago period.

For the annual period, the Zacks Consensus Estimates anticipate earnings of $28.29 per share and a revenue of $102.27 billion, signifying shifts of +12.08% and +10.12%, respectively, from the last year.

Additionally, investors should keep an eye on any recent revisions to analyst forecasts for Humana. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-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 demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. To utilize this, we have created the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model that integrates these estimate changes and provides a functional rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.03% higher within the past month. Humana is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at valuation, Humana is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 16.58. This indicates no noticeable deviation in contrast to its industry's Forward P/E of 16.58.

It's also important to note that HUM currently trades at a PEG ratio of 1.23. The PEG ratio is akin to the commonly utilized P/E ratio, but this measure also incorporates the company's anticipated earnings growth rate. The Medical - HMOs industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.16 as trading concluded yesterday.

The Medical - HMOs industry is part of the Medical sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 66, positioning it in the top 27% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Ensure to harness Zacks.com to stay updated with all these stock-shifting metrics, among others, in the next trading sessions.


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