Humana Inc. (HUM) has decided to hire a total of 245 people to its full-time work force at its call centers located in Arizona and Florida.
Separately, Humana has planned to add 105 jobs to its Medicare sales center in Phoenix, Arizona. Including the additions, Humana will currently have about 1,400 employees in Phoenix.
In Florida, Humana will add 140 positions including sales specialists and supervisors, to its national Medicare marketing and telesales call center in Tampa. Including the new positions, Humana’s work force in Florida will increase to more than 2,200 employees by mid-summer.
In addition to the new jobs in Tampa, Humana has added 177 workers to its Humana Cares national center in St. Petersburg.
Humana has more than 10 million medical members and 7.1 million specialty insurance members. Further, the company has recently posted its first-quarter operating earnings of $1.55 per share, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.45 per share and the prior-year earnings of $1.15 per share.
The better-than-expected results were attributable to higher year-over-year earnings in the Humana’s Employer Group and Health and Well-Being Services business segments, partially offset by lower earnings in the company’s Retail business segment.
Humana also hiked its 2011 EPS forecast to a range of $6.70 to $6.90 per share from $5.95 to $6.15 per share.
Humana also has a solid cash flow structure. In April, its board has replaced its previous share repurchase authorization with a new authorization for share repurchases of up to $1 billion by June 30, 2013.
On the same day, Humana’s board also initiated a quarterly cash dividend to stockholders, declaring a cash dividend of 25 cents per share to stockholders of record as of June 30, 2011. The dividend will be paid on July 28, 2011. Humana is expected to spend about $42.5 million per quarter on its new dividend.
Likewise, Humana’s competitor UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH) also planned to increase its quarterly dividend by 30% and enhance the share repurchase program, replacing the earlier one, in May 2011.
Humana’s quantitative Zacks #3 Rank (short term Hold rating) on the stock indicates no directional pressure on the shares over the near term.
HUMANA INC NEW (HUM): Free Stock Analysis Report
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