The Cigna Group Plans Quarterly Dividend of $1.40 (NYSE:CI)

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 24th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 4th will be given a dividend of 1.40 per share by the health services provider on Thursday, June 20th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%.

The Cigna Group has raised its dividend by an average of 397.3% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 4 years. The Cigna Group has a payout ratio of 17.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect The Cigna Group to earn $31.93 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 17.5%.

The Cigna Group Trading Down 0.1 %

CI stock traded down $0.37 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $352.28. The company had a trading volume of 920,598 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,585,859. The Cigna Group has a 52 week low of $240.50 and a 52 week high of $365.71. The company has a market cap of $102.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.26, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a 50 day moving average of $349.03 and a 200 day moving average of $316.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The health services provider reported $6.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.54 by $0.25. The Cigna Group had a net margin of 2.64% and a return on equity of 13.59%. The company had revenue of $51.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.96 earnings per share. The Cigna Group’s revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Cigna Group will post 28.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of The Cigna Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $330.00 to $372.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of The Cigna Group from $334.00 to $348.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of The Cigna Group from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $327.00 to $354.00 in a report on Monday, February 5th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of The Cigna Group in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $393.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of The Cigna Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $362.14.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Eric P. Palmer sold 1,017 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.26, for a total transaction of $340,959.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 45,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,275,786.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Eric P. Palmer sold 1,017 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.26, for a total transaction of $340,959.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 45,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,275,786.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Hoeltzel Mary T. Agoglia sold 4,867 shares of The Cigna Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.48, for a total transaction of $1,608,446.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $694,668.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 114,144 shares of company stock worth $39,296,330 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

The Cigna Group Company Profile

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.