Aetna Inc. (AET), headquartered in Hartford, CT, is one of the largest commercial health and benefits insurers providing health insurance and related products to over 23 million individuals. Aetna is a solid company, with a diversified revenue stream that should be beneficial in this changing environment.
Aetna has fared better than its peers in facing the numerous challenges put forth by the Health Reform Act. Its investment in Healthcare IT and growth of segments such as Medicaid and International will drive long term growth.
During the quarter the company announced the acquisition of Humana Inc. (HUM). The combination of the two majors positions will be very synergistic, as the combined entity will command the position of second-largest managed care company in the US.
Aetna has a pretty good earnings track record with the company delivering positive earnings surprises in each of the last four quarters with an average surprise of 10.1%.
Currently, Aetna has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), but that could definitely change following the company’s earnings report which was just released. We have highlighted some of the key stats from this just-revealed announcement below:
The Bottom Line: Aetna posts better-than-expected second quarter earnings. The company reported operating earnings of $2.05 per share way ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.84 per share. Earnings were up 21% year over year.
The Top Line: Revenues were lower than our expectations. Aetna posted revenues of $15.1 billion, lower than our consensus estimate of $15.4 billion.
Key Stats: Medical membership was 23.7 million as on Jun 30, 2015, representing a 2.5% year-over-year increase.
Aetna repurchased shares worth $100 million during the quarter.
Driven by strong results, Aetna upped its earnings projection for 2015 operating earnings per share of “at least $7.40” from the earlier range of $7.20 to $7.40.
Check back later for our full write up on this Aetna earnings report later!
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