Humana Inc. HUM brand CenterWell recently announced the grand opening of CenterWell Senior Primary Care Center in Gladstone, MO. It is located next to the Walmart store in the region. Following the opening on March 26, the company will have 22 more centers operational at Walmart locations across four states by mid-2025.

These centers are designed for seniors, providing personalized, value-based care with easier access to medical services. The Gladstone facility started seeing patients since December, while centers in Florida, Georgia and Texas are expected to open later this spring. It first announced its plan to open the care centers in July 2024.

Placing clinics next to Walmart stores ensures easy access to health services in familiar locations, which will benefit underserved communities. Humana’s value-based care model focuses on preventive care, leading to fewer hospital admissions and better management of chronic conditions. Per the company, a 10% increase in primary care visits for patients in value-based care models was witnessed.

By attracting more seniors to its network, Humana strengthens its presence in Medicare Advantage, a key revenue driver. The easy accessibility for patients will give the company a competitive edge over other senior-focused healthcare providers. CenterWell Senior Primary Care and Conviva Senior Primary Care together make up HUM’s Primary Care Organization. It is the largest and fastest-growing senior primary care provider in the country. As of Dec. 31, 2024, it operates more than 340 centers, serving around 390,000 seniors.

HUM’s CenterWell segment recorded revenues of $5.1 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024, backed by expanding service lines to Humana’s members under value-based contracts, a growing specialty pharmacy business and improved revenues derived from the Primary Care business. 

HUM’s Price Performance

Humana’s shares have declined 23.2% in the past year compared with the 3% fall of the industry it belongs to.

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Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Humana currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked and promising stocks in the broader Medical sector are Pediatrix Medical Group, Inc. MD, The Ensign Group, Inc. ENSG and Addus HomeCare Corporation ADUS. While Pediatrix Medical currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Ensign and Addus HomeCare carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) each. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Pediatrix Medical’s current-year earnings indicates 2.7% year-over-year growth. MD beat earnings estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, with an average surprise of 19.4%. The consensus mark for its current-year revenues is pegged at $1.9 billion.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Ensign’s current-year earnings indicates 13.5% year-over-year growth. ENSG beat earnings estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, with an average surprise of 1.5%. The consensus mark for revenues implies a 14.3% increase from the year-ago period.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Addus HomeCare’s current-year earnings signals a 13.5% increase from the year-ago reported figure. ADUS beat earnings estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and met once, with an average surprise of 5.8%. The consensus mark for its current-year revenues is pegged at $1.4 billion, which indicates 21.2% year-over-year growth.

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