Cigna Shares Hit New Record High After Q1 Earnings; Target Price $300 in Best Case

Cigna, a global health service company, reported better-than-expected earnings in the first quarter and lifted its full-year 2021 profit and revenue outlook, sending shares to a record high on Friday.

The Bloomfield, Connecticut-based company said its total revenues in the first quarter were $41.0 billion, and adjusted revenues were $41.0 billion. Adjusted income from operations for the first quarter was $1.7 billion, or $4.73 per share, beating the Wall Street consensus estimates of $4.37 per share.

The U.S. health insurer raised full-year 2021 adjusted revenue to at least $166 billion, up from the previous projection of at least $165 billion. Cigna expects consolidated adjusted income from operations at least $7.0 billion, or at least $20.20 per share.

Following the upbeat results, Cigna shares hit an all-time of $263.38 on Friday. The stock rose over 26% so far this year.

Cigna Stock Price Forecast

Eleven analysts who offered stock ratings for Cigna in the last three months forecast the average price in 12 months of $275.90 with a high forecast of $300.00 and a low forecast of $254.00.

The average price target represents a 7.38% increase from the last price of $256.93. Of those 11 analysts, ten rated “Buy”, one rated “Hold” while none rated “Sell”, according to Tipranks.

Morgan Stanley gave the base target price to $254 with a high of $343 under a bull scenario and $143 under the worst-case scenario. The firm gave an “Overweight” rating on the insurance company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also updated their stock outlook. Truist Securities raised the price target to $300 from $280. Jefferies lifted the price objective to $295 from $268. CFRA upped the target price by $25 to $260. Bernstein increased the target price to $263 from $242. BMO lifted the target price to $290 from $270.

Analyst Comments

“Cigna is the fourth largest commercial (8% share) and exchange (3% share) player. Acquisition of ESRX creates vertically integrated player with better ability to manage medical and pharmacy spend to drive significant savings for members,” noted Ricky Goldwasser, equity analyst at Morgan Stanley.

“Flexible balance sheet to deploy into M&A. Opportunity to upsell dental and vision ancillary services can help drive accelerated commercial penetration longer-term. Opportunity for further MA penetration remains as co. can cross-sell in areas it has a strong commercial presence.”

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This article was originally posted on FX Empire

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