Stock Update (NYSE:AET): Aetna CEO says Obamacare exchanges need change to be sustainable

[Reuters] – Aetna Inc Chief Executive Officer Mark Bertolini said on Monday that he is concerned that the individual healthcare exchanges created under the Affordable Care Act are not sustainable and that recent government proposals for changes are not enough. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently proposed restricting the special enrollment period that insurers say has been abused by customers who are taking on insurance only when they know about upcoming medical bills. Chief Financial Officer Shawn Guertin said that Aetna’s individual commercial business – which includes plans sold on the exchange and directly by Aetna – had an operating loss of 3 percent to 4 percent in 2015. Read more on this. Aetna Inc. (AET) , with a current value of $36.07B, opened this morning at $103.25. Shares have traded today between $102.51 and $105.00 per share with its 52-week range being $90.20 to $134.40. Priced at 13.10x this year’s forecasted earnings, AET shares are relatively expensive compared to the industry ’s 12.96x forward p/e ratio. And for income investors, the company pays shareholders $1.00 per share annually in dividends, yielding 0.98%. In a review of the consensus earnings estimate this quarter, 20 sell-side analysts are looking at $1.21 per share, which would be $0.01 worse than the year-ago quarter and a $0.02 sequential decrease. The full-year EPS estimate is $7.54 which would be a $0.84 better than last year’s full-year earnings. The quarterly earnings estimate is based on a consensus revenue forecast of the current quarter of $14.93 Billion. If realized, that would be a 1.08% increase over the year-ago quarter. Recently, Jefferies downgraded AET from Buy to Hold (Jan 8, 2016). Previously, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded AET from Hold to Buy. Given all the information above, we should disclose to readers that the average price target is $138.00, which is 33.66% above than it opened this morning. See more in (NYSE:AET) Similar Articles: Stock Update: Aetna Inc (NYSE:AET) – Aetna Announces Transaction with Vitality Re VII Stock Update: Aetna Inc (NYSE:AET) – Aetna Announces Special Shareholder Meeting Will Be Held October 19, 2015 Stock Update: Aetna Inc (NYSE:AET) – Aetna and MemorialCare Announce New Accountable Care Collaboration in Southern California