Humana Inc. (HUM), headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, provides medical and specialty insurance products. With a market cap of $28.1 billion, the company offers coordinated health care through health maintenance organizations, point-of-service plans, and administrative services products. 

Companies worth $10 billion or more are generally described as “large-cap stocks,” and HUM perfectly fits that description, with its market cap exceeding this mark, underscoring its size, influence, and dominance within the healthcare plans industry. Humana dominates the Medicare Advantage sector with a substantial customer base and competitive edge, driven by its focused strategy. The company has also diversified into healthcare services, including primary care and pharmacy benefit management, capturing more value in the healthcare chain and improving health outcomes. 

Despite its notable strength, HUM slipped 42.9% from its 52-week high of $406.46, achieved on Jul. 18, 2024. Over the past three months, HUM stock declined 7.7%, underperforming the Dow Jones Industrials Average’s ($DOWI) 2.3% gains during the same time frame.

In the longer term, shares of HUM dipped 8.6% on a YTD basis and fell 33.6% over the past 52 weeks, underperforming DOWI’s YTD marginal gains and 10.3% returns over the last year.

To confirm the bearish trend, HUM has been trading below its 50-day moving average since late July, 2024, experiencing some fluctuations. The stock has been trading below its 200-day moving average over the past year, with slight fluctuations.

HUM’s underperformance can be linked to decline in investment income, fall in overall membership and an elevated operating expense level.

On Apr. 30, HUM shares closed up more than 1% after reporting its Q1 results. Its adjusted EPS of $11.58 beat Wall Street expectations of $9.98. The company’s revenue was $32.1 billion, falling short of Wall Street forecasts of $32.2 billion. HUM expects full-year EPS to be $16.25.

In the competitive arena of healthcare plans, The Cigna Group (CI) has taken the lead over HUM, showing resilience with a 13.6% gain on a YTD basis and a 7.4% downtick over the past 52 weeks. 

Wall Street analysts are moderately bullish on HUM’s prospects. The stock has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating from the 23 analysts covering it, and the mean price target of $294.19 suggests a potential upside of 26.8% from current price levels.