Molina Healthcare's (MOH) Q4 Earnings Surpass, Decline Y/Y

Molina Healthcare, Inc.’s (NYSE:MOH) fourth-quarter 2019 adjusted earnings of $2.73 per share surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.2% on the back of declining expenses. However, the bottom line fell 29.6% year over year, mainly due to lower revenues.

Also, total revenues of $4.2 billion came almost in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. However, the top line was down 8.4% year over year, mainly due to loss of Medicaid membership.

Quarterly Operational Update

The company’s net income totaled $168 million, down 16.4% year over year.

Total operating expenses decreased 7.1% year over year to $4 billion. This improvement was attributable to lower Medical care costs and null cost of service revenues.

For the quarter under review, medical care cost was down 6.1% year over year to nearly $3.5 billion.

Molina Healthcare’s interest expenses dropped 16.7% year over year to $20 million owing to constant repayment of convertible notes.

Total membership by Government Program for 2019 stands at 3.3 billion, down 12.8% year over year.

Financial Update

As of Dec 31, 2019, Molina Healthcare’s cash and cash equivalents saw a reduction of 13.2% to $2.4 billion from the level at 2018 end.

Total assets fell 5.1% from the level at 2018 end to $6.7 billion.

The company’s shareholder equity improved nearly 19% from the figure at 2018 end to $1.9 billion.

For 2019, net cash flow from operating activities stands at $427 million against 2018’s net cash outflow of $314 million.

Share Repurchase and Dividend Update

In December 2019, the company’s board of directors authorized a share buyback plan of up to $500 million. During the fourth quarter, Molina Healthcare received $305 million of dividends from regulated health plan subsidiaries.

2020 Guidance

Following fourth-quarter results, the company issued its 2020 outlook. It now expects earnings in the range of $11.20-$11.70 per share.

It also projects premium revenue growth of 7.4%.

For the current year, the company anticipates its premium revenues to be $17.4 billion and total revenues to be $18.3 billion. Total membership of the company is predicted to be 3.4 million.

Full-Year Update

Net income for the year ended Dec 31, 2019 increased 4.2% year over year to $737 million. Revenues for the year totaled $16.8 billion, down 11% year over year.

Zacks Rank

Molina Healthcare carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Releases From the Medical Sector

Among other players from the medical sector having already reported fourth-quarter earnings, the bottom-line results of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) , Anthem Inc. (NYSE:ANTM) topped the respective Zacks Consensus Estimate while that of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) missed the same.

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