Deutsche Bank Reiterates Hold, $96 Target on Humana

Deutsche Bank reiterates its Hold rating and $96 target price on Humana (NYSE: HUM) as the company reports 4Q11 results in line with Street estimates.

Deutsche Bank notes, "HUM reported in line 4Q results with a better MLR offset by light revs and higher SG&A spending. Earnings in the Retail segment topped our forecast while Employer segment results missed. The 4Q11 results included a $0.13 per share contribution to the HUM Foundation which added 40 bps to SG&A. HUM booked a similar sized contribution in 4Q10 so it had no impact on y/y SG&A comps. Relative to our model, revs were $141.2m (2%) below our $9.197b est. The consolidated MLR at 81.8% was 110 bps lower than our 82.9% est (including $0.21 of PPRD), while SG&A was 80 bps higher than our 16.9% est at 17.7%."

HUM closed at $90.28 a share on Friday.