The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) Receives “Buy” Rating from Guggenheim

Guggenheim reiterated their buy rating on shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. Guggenheim currently has a $388.00 price objective on the health services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on The Cigna Group from $370.00 to $341.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on The Cigna Group from $350.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on The Cigna Group from $400.00 to $375.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on The Cigna Group from $388.00 to $362.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Stephens lowered their price objective on The Cigna Group from $410.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, The Cigna Group presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $379.33.

The Cigna Group Price Performance

The Cigna Group stock opened at $316.36 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market capitalization of $84.51 billion, a PE ratio of 25.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.47. The Cigna Group has a 12 month low of $262.03 and a 12 month high of $370.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $325.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $310.06.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The health services provider reported $6.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.35 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $65.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.39 billion. The Cigna Group had a return on equity of 18.61% and a net margin of 1.39%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.47 earnings per share. Analysts expect that The Cigna Group will post 29.77 EPS for the current year.

The Cigna Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 3rd will be issued a $1.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 3rd. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. The Cigna Group’s payout ratio is currently 33.44%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other The Cigna Group news, insider Noelle K. Eder sold 9,944 shares of The Cigna Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.00, for a total value of $3,182,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,406 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,289,920. The trade was a 42.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Cordani sold 26,527 shares of The Cigna Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.12, for a total value of $8,173,499.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 127,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,367,568.04. The trade was a 17.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 43,751 shares of company stock worth $13,603,991. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Cigna Group

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Flaharty Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in The Cigna Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 1248 Management LLC acquired a new stake in The Cigna Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in The Cigna Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Activest Wealth Management grew its stake in The Cigna Group by 360.0% in the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 92 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. Finally, Saudi Central Bank acquired a new stake in The Cigna Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 86.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About The Cigna Group

The Cigna Group, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and related products and services in the United States. Its Evernorth Health Services segment provides a range of coordinated and point solution health services, including pharmacy benefits, home delivery pharmacy, specialty pharmacy, distribution, and care delivery and management solutions to health plans, employers, government organizations, and health care providers.