Top Business News

Slower increases in health tending ingest helped bounteous managed-care companies closing 2010 strongly, and they've carried that momentum into 2011.

UnitedHealth Group Inc., WellPoint Inc. and Humana Inc. every reportable first-quarter earnings in the time hebdomad that vex Wall Street expectations, and they've also upraised their acquire forecasts for this year.

Bad weather in some parts of the land has helped rein in costs by keeping people away from the doctor's office.

Investors also are acquisition that a newborn upkeep conception requiring insurers to spend peak percentages of premiums on tending and calibre may not hurt the facet as much as they expected.

WellPoint, Humana and Aetna Inc. every hit said they organisation to move shareholders with newborn quarterly dividend payments starting this year. UnitedHealth reinforced its dividend terminal year.

Their stocks hit responded to these developments by trouncing the 9.2 proportionality increase registered by the Standard & Poor's 500 finger between Dec. 31 and weekday afternoon. Here is how stock prices for the five biggest insurers hit grown so far in 2011.

• Humana, up 39 proportionality to $76.31.

• WellPoint, up 32 proportionality to $75.17.

• UnitedHealth, up 32 proportionality to $47.77.

• Aetna, up 31 proportionality to $39.96.

• Cigna Corp., up 24 proportionality to $45.62.

Source