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CI vs. HUM: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in Medical - HMOs stocks are likely familiar with Cigna (CI - Free Report) and Humana (HUM - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks offers value investors a better bang for their buck right now? We'll need to take a closer look.

Everyone has their own methods for finding great value opportunities, but our model includes pairing an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system with a strong Zacks Rank. The Zacks Rank is a proven strategy that targets companies with positive earnings estimate revision trends, while our Style Scores work to grade companies based on specific traits.

Currently, Cigna has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Humana has a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell). This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that CI is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

Value investors are also interested in a number of tried-and-true valuation metrics that help show when a company is undervalued at its current share price levels.

The Style Score Value grade factors in a variety of key fundamental metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a number of other key stats that are commonly used by value investors.

CI currently has a forward P/E ratio of 11.86, while HUM has a forward P/E of 21.83. We also note that CI has a PEG ratio of 1.03. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. HUM currently has a PEG ratio of 2.05.

Another notable valuation metric for CI is its P/B ratio of 2.13. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, HUM has a P/B of 2.64.

Based on these metrics and many more, CI holds a Value grade of A, while HUM has a Value grade of D.

CI stands above HUM thanks to its solid earnings outlook, and based on these valuation figures, we also feel that CI is the superior value option right now.


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