8 Managed Care Stocks Wells Fargo Is Watching

In a report published on Thursday, Wells Fargo analyst Costa mentioned that the detailed released by HHS on the Health Insurance Marketplaces on March 10 highlighted continued enrollment growth.As of February 15, about 11.7 million individuals selected a Qualified Health Plan (QHP). This compared to the more than 9.5 million lives as of January 16, and 8.0 million lives as of the end of the 2014 open enrollment period. In the report Wells Fargo noted, "Based on our analysis of the yr/yr change in exchange enrollment by state, it seemed that the growth of approximately 3.7 million lives was led by a handful of federally facilitated exchange (FFM) states, including FL, TX, and GA. CA, however, saw limited growth, while exchange enrollment declined yr/yr in WA and VT."In view of the robust growth in Florida, Texas and Georgia, Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) and UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE: UNH) are likely to enjoy robust exchange enrollment growth, consistent with managements' expectations. "…good growth in the top growing states at HUM may help offset attrition in other states where HUM's pricing may be more conservative, Costa wrote, while adding that exchange enrollment growth for Health Net, Inc. (NYSE: HNT) could be relatively modest in California, except for plan switches. "…growth in AZ and OR (albeit small) may provide some support," the analyst said.The analyst believes that Aetna and Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) are poised for growth in both Florida and Georgia, given their competitively priced plans in several counties where they have a presence. UnitedHealth may also perform well in Florida and Georgia, since it has a presence in most of the counties in each of the states. The Blue plan seemed to be priced competitively in Texas. Among the Medicaid-focused insurers, Centene Corp. (NYSE: CNC) appeared to be well positioned in Georgia.Other stocks the analysts are watching include Anthem, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANTM), Cigna Corp. (NYSE: CI) and Molina Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE: MOH).