Health insurers well-positioned for 2021-22 - Cowen

Tsun Yip Holdings

14/04/2021 11:39

** Brokerage Cowen sees potential for modest upside to Q1
EPS for health insurers due to lower utilization and
lower-than-expected COVID-related costs
    ** Sees health insurers as well-positioned in 2021-22
    ** Key items to watch are early commentary on non-COVID
utilization and 2021 expectations, updated expectations on
COVID-19 testing/treatment costs, and the outlook for commercial
membership growth - Cowen
    ** A stronger-than-expected commercial outlook could be an
additional source of upside for Anthem Inc  ANTM.N , Cigna Corp
 CI.N , and UnitedHealth Group  UNH.N , as well as Centene Corp
 CNC.N , CVS Health Corp  CVS.N  and Humana Inc  HUM.N , albeit
to a lesser extent
    ** Brokerage expects Q1 commercial membership to remain
flattish; expect it to grow sequentially in Q2
    ** Cowen also confident in the 2022 outlook for health
insurers
    ** ANTM, CI, UNH, CVS, HUM, MOH up between 6% and 48.5% in
the last 12 months, while CNC down 6.3% and OSCR down 31.2%
since starting to trade in March
 Company Name             Q1 EPS estimates
 Anthem Inc               $6.41
 Cigna Corp               $4.25
 Centene Corp             $1.73
 Humana Inc               $7
 Molina Healthcare        $3.99
  MOH.N                   
 Oscar Health  OSCR.N     51 cents
 UnitedHealth             $4.42
 
 (Reporting by Trisha Roy in Bengaluru)
 ((Trisha.Roy@thomsonreuters.com; within U.S. +1 646 223 8780,
outside U.S. +91 80 6182 3635;))