Homestead Advisers Corp Raises Position in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

Homestead Advisers Corp lifted its stake in shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 248,362 shares of the health services provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,200 shares during the quarter. The Cigna Group accounts for approximately 1.7% of Homestead Advisers Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Homestead Advisers Corp owned about 0.09% of The Cigna Group worth $68,583,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sterling Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of The Cigna Group during the fourth quarter worth about $4,367,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in The Cigna Group by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 323,911 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $112,216,000 after purchasing an additional 11,228 shares during the last quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in shares of The Cigna Group by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 75,837 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $20,942,000 after purchasing an additional 858 shares in the last quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. grew its position in shares of The Cigna Group by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 56,933 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $15,721,000 after buying an additional 1,548 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co increased its stake in shares of The Cigna Group by 28.3% in the third quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 15,713 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $5,444,000 after buying an additional 3,466 shares during the last quarter. 86.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $348.00 price objective (down from $394.00) on shares of The Cigna Group in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $360.00 price objective (down previously from $415.00) on shares of The Cigna Group in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada set a $355.00 target price on The Cigna Group in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group dropped their price target on The Cigna Group from $410.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of The Cigna Group from $390.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $373.25.

Insider Activity at The Cigna Group

In other The Cigna Group news, insider Nicole S. Jones sold 4,904 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.12, for a total value of $1,511,020.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,421 shares in the company, valued at $9,065,198.52. This trade represents a 14.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Elder Granger sold 2,376 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.35, for a total transaction of $737,391.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,697,924.85. This trade represents a 30.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 43,751 shares of company stock valued at $13,603,991 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

The Cigna Group Stock Up 1.4 %

The Cigna Group stock opened at $321.18 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $302.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $314.24. The stock has a market cap of $87.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.24, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.53. The Cigna Group has a 52 week low of $262.03 and a 52 week high of $370.83. 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 Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The health services provider reported $6.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.84 by ($1.20). The Cigna Group had a return on equity of 18.61% and a net margin of 1.39%. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.79 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that The Cigna Group will post 29.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Cigna Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a $1.51 dividend. This is an increase from The Cigna Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. The Cigna Group’s payout ratio is presently 49.35%.

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.