Health Insurers End Day Mixed Despite Ruling

U.S. District Court Judge Henry Hudson ruling that Congress cannot order individuals to buy health insurance does not seem to have much of an impact on heathcare stocks yet.
By Maria Woehr ,

New York (

TheStreet

)-- U.S. District Court Judge Henry Hudson's ruling that Congress cannot order individuals to buy health insurance does not seem to have much of an impact on heathcare stocks during Monday trading.

Health insurer stocks ended the day mixed.

UnitedHealth Group

(UNH) - Get Report

was up 23 cents at $36.90,

Aetna

(AET)

increased 31 cents at $30.92,

WellPoint

(WLP)

was down 15 cents at $57.53 and

Cigna

(CI) - Get Report

ended the day down 15 cents at $37.50.

Even though stocks were not initially impacted by the ruling, there is a possibility that the stocks could be in the future since the issue will likely be decided by the Supreme Court, says MorningStar analyst Matthew Coffina.

Coffina said that it would likely take two years for the case to reach and be decided by the Supreme Court and by that time much of the reform would already be implemented. In the meantime, Coffina says, investors should see the sector as undervalued.

"As an investor I wouldn't buy into the healthcare sector based on the rulings of this regulation because that will have a very small impact," said Coffina. "Even if the courts decide that it is unconstitutional, the Medicare expansion and the subsidiaries to help people purchase insurance could stand."

Coffina says the stocks most undervalued in the sector are WellPoint, UnitedHealth and

AmeriGroup

(AGP)

.

--Written by Maria Woehr in New York.

To contact the writer of this article, click here:

Maria Woehr

.

To follow the writer on Twitter, go to

http://twitter.com/newsgirlmw

.

To submit a news tip, send an email to:

tips@thestreet.com

.

Loading ...