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18 April
Humana (HUM) Ascends While Market Falls: Some Facts to Note

In the latest market close, Humana (HUM) reached $324.83, with a +0.42% movement compared to the previous day. The stock outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a daily loss of 0.22%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.06%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.52%.

Heading into today, shares of the health insurer had lost 7.1% over the past month, lagging the Medical sector's loss of 6.22% and the S&P 500's loss of 1.66% in that time.

Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Humana in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings report is set to be unveiled on April 24, 2024. On that day, Humana is projected to report earnings of $6.02 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 35.82%. Alongside, our most recent consensus estimate is anticipating revenue of $28.6 billion, indicating a 6.96% upward movement from the same quarter last year.

For the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $16.06 per share and a revenue of $112.26 billion, representing changes of -38.44% and +8.22%, respectively, from the prior year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Humana should also be noted by investors. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest 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 suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming 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, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, there's been a 0.15% fall in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. As of now, Humana holds a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Investors should also note Humana's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 20.14. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 15.23.

Also, we should mention that HUM has a PEG ratio of 1.9. The PEG ratio bears resemblance to the frequently used P/E ratio, but this parameter also includes the company's expected earnings growth trajectory. The Medical - HMOs was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.06 at yesterday's closing price.

The Medical - HMOs industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 174, finds itself in the bottom 31% echelons of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank evaluates the power of our distinct industry groups by determining the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks forming the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.

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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.