Humana Leaps a Staggering 86%

Health insurer Humana (NYSE: HUM) saw its fourth quarter earnings rise 86 percent thanks to membership growth and light use of health benefits.Perhaps the most staggering thing to come out of that is the fact that, despite an 86 percent rise, the results missed expectations. According to the Wall Street Journal, HUM forecast current-quarter earnings of $1.35 to $1.45 a share, while analysts surveyed by Reuters expected $1.81.HUM raised its full-year earnings estimate by 10 cents to $7.50 to $7.70 a share and lifted its revenue guidance by $500 million to a range of $38.75 billion to $39.25 billion.Any celebration should be muted though. HUM's profit has jumped of late partly because patients made fewer trips to the doctor because of concerns about the economy. That is a sentence that one should never have to write.Humana's profit is reported as $199 million, or $1.20 a share, up from $107 million, or 63 cents, the previous year. Revenue jumped 9.4 percent to $9.06 billion.Bank of America Merrill ...

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