
Will Cigna (CI) Stock Be Boosted by Q1 Earnings Beat, Upbeat Outlook?
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Cigna (CI) - Get Report posted its 2016 first quarter results this morning, which showed profit beating expectations while revenue came in below.
Adjusted earnings of $2.32 a share topped Wall Street's forecasts of $2.15 a share and was higher than $1.96 a share it earned the year prior. Revenue increased 4.4% to $9.88 billion, slightly under forecasts of $10 billion.
"Our strong first quarter results reflect the continued focused execution of Cigna's global strategy," CEO David M. Cordani stated.
Overall, favorable medical costs in the health insurer's government and commercial employer businesses helped lift results.
Additionally, medical customer base grew by 130,000 during the recent period to a total of 15.1 million, thanks to organic growth in its middle market, medicare advantage and select segments.
Along with earnings, the company raised its full-year guidance. It now anticipates 2016 earnings to be between the range of $8.95 to $9.35 a share, compared to its past outlook of $8.85 to $9.25 a share.
In July, larger rival Anthem (ANTM) said it would buy Cigna for $48 billion, creating a company with a huge footprint in commercial insurance, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Shares of Cigna are unchanged in pre-market trading on Friday. The stock closed Thursday's trading session down 0.27% to $134.93.
Separately, TheStreet Ratings currently has a "Buy" rating on the stock with a letter grade of A-.
The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, good cash flow from operations, solid stock price performance and notable return on equity. We feel its strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had sub par growth in net income.
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 article's author.
You can view the full analysis from the report here: CI










