Shares of Aetna (NYSE: AET) moved to new highs on Thursday, gaining attention from financial media but not just from earnings. Shares added 2.46% Thursday on above average volume as the company reported that its overall profit rose 52% which more than beat Wall Street expectations. Following this report the company announced that it would raise its forecast for 2017 once again. They really impressed investors as they raised it well beyond what analysts had expected. So how did they do it? Well, according to the report they did add some more Medicare customers which boosted production overall. They also grew their employer based health care coverage division, but the main reason was their continued pullback from participating in Obamacare.
Since last year Aetna has been scaling back the number of state exchanges that it participates in. The company has moved from 15 states to just 4 now. Even with the four states remaining the company will still lose $200 million off that. It just shows how the Affordable Care Act (ACA) needs attention. Even though the company is losing money investors have cheered their move to reduce their exposure to the ACA. Last year the company lost over $300 million so they are on the right track.
As for shares of the company, they have been nothing but higher this year. As the company makes the move to do the right thing for their shareholders, the shareholders have rewarded the company. With smaller losses and profits rising, shares have added almost 30% this year. Technical traders note that the trend is, and has been very consistent with very little volatility. As with most other names in the market, many are calling for a pullback due to the extent of the run up but for now its full steam ahead for the insurer.