Aetna (AET) Stock Falls, Plans to Sell Assets for Humana Deal
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Aetna (AET) stock is falling 1.69% to $120.07 in late-afternoon trading as the company works to eliminate regulatory concerns over its proposed $37 billion acquisition of rival Humana (HUM).
The Hartford, CT-based insurer is working with investors to uncover assets that could be sold in order to reduce overlap between itself and Humana, based in Louisville, KY. The deal has been under scrutiny for violating antitrust laws.
Some of the overlap in question is within the elderly private health market. If the Aetna-Humana deal were to go through, the combined company would own at least half of all Medicare Advantage enrollees in 10 states and at least two-thirds in five others.
Humana holds 3.2 million Medicare Advantage health-plan clients, while Aetna holds 1.3 million.
Aetna plans to divest itself of assets worth several billion dollars and it hopes to sell these assets within the upcoming weeks.
These sales, however, would be conditional on the completion of a deal between Aetna and Humana.
Separately, TheStreet Ratings rated this stock as a "buy" with a ratings score of A+.
The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, attractive valuation levels, good cash flow from operations and largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures. TheStreet Ratings feels its strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had sub par growth in net income.
You can view the full analysis from the report here: AET
Recently, TheStreet Ratings objectively rated this stock according to its "risk-adjusted" total return prospect over a 12-month investment horizon. Not based on the news in any given day, the rating may differ from Jim Cramer's view or that of this articles's author.