Jim Cramer: Humana (HUM) Keeps Rising – A “Totally Independent” Healthcare Stock

Insider Monkey
17 Apr

We recently published a list of Jim Cramer is Bullish on These 10 Stocks. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) stands against other stocks that Jim Cramer discusses.

On Friday, Mad Money host, Jim Cramer, shared his perspective on how investors might approach the stock market given the current economic uncertainty.

“You gotta make a list and decide what you can live with and what’s simply too dicey to buy. That my good friends, is how you have to think about stocks right now if you’re willing to be a slave to this crazy market in order to try to pocket what you can during this difficult period.”

READ ALSO: Jim Cramer’s Game Plan: 15 Stocks to Watch and Jim Cramer Discussed These 12 Stocks.

Cramer emphasized that before making any trading decision unless the plan is to hold it long-term and ride out near-term turbulence, investors should run what he described as a “gauntlet” of significant considerations. The first question he raised is whether the company in question does business in any foreign country. While it is common for investors to be cautious about China these days, Cramer pointed out that any nation could suddenly draw the ire of the U.S. president.

“Now, it’s one thing to be worried about China, but it’s another to recognize that any country could at any time find itself on the president’s bad side. And once they get on his bad side, any American company doing real business there, finished.”

Cramer stressed the importance of avoiding companies that rely on international operations or resources. The second point on his checklist involved evaluating whether a company is cyclical, essentially, if it is vulnerable to swings in the broader economy. Highlighting the scale of the current trade friction, Cramer pointed out that the United States is effectively embargoing $439 billion worth of goods from China. He noted that it is likely to push inflation to levels not seen in a very long time. He added:

“It’s hard to disagree with that assessment and I say that as someone who generally supports a trade crackdown on the Chinese government.”

Our Methodology

For this article, we compiled a list of 10 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the episode of Mad Money aired on April 11. We listed the stocks in the order that Cramer mentioned them. We also provided hedge fund sentiment for each stock as of the fourth quarter of 2024, which was taken from Insider Monkey’s database of over 1,000 hedge funds.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).

Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 64

Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) was mentioned during the episode, and here’s what Mad Money’s host had to say:

“Then there are the health insurers, Humana, UnitedHealth, and Cigna. They are the ones I have my eyes on. They’re the easiest spot and we want them easy. I know the Charitable Trust should own one of these. I’m just debating which one.”

Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) provides health insurance and care services that include medical coverage, pharmacy benefits, and home-based care. It supports government healthcare programs and works with individuals, employers, and military personnel. Last week on Squawk on the Street, Cramer said:

“Is the market reflecting any of this? No, but something else is happening too. People are investing in companies, just started yesterday, that don’t have all that much exposure to China or none. You can see it in healthcare, excluding drugs, which are still facing the possibility of their own set of tariffs. UnitedHealth Group and Humana are good examples. They were up once again. I mean it’s really incredible. Former up nearly 3%, The latter up 2%.”

Overall, HUM ranks 6th on our list of stocks that Jim Cramer discusses. While we acknowledge the potential of HUM as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than HUM but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.

Disclaimer: Investing carries risk. This is not financial advice. The above content should not be regarded as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation on acquiring or disposing of any financial products, any associated discussions, comments, or posts by author or other users should not be considered as such either. It is solely for general information purpose only, which does not consider your own investment objectives, financial situations or needs. TTM assumes no responsibility or warranty for the accuracy and completeness of the information, investors should do their own research and may seek professional advice before investing.

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