Earnings Preview: Cigna reports 3Q results Friday

Associated Press:

Cigna Corp. provides health insurance to thousands of Oregonians through its subsidiary Great West Insurance, which it purchased a few years ago. They also rent Providence and other provider networks to provide health insurance to national and international corporations' employees and provide third-party administration for self-funded plans.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Health insurer Cigna Corp. reports third-quarter results Friday before the market opens.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Analysts say a drop in doctors' visits and hospital stays by customers will boost performance throughout the sector this quarter, though insurers' shares may not reflect the improvement because investors are still wary about the impact that the health care overhaul will have next year. Investors also will be watching Cigna's commercial enrollment. Insurers have seen losses in that segment slow this year as fewer businesses lay off employees, and that may have continued in the third quarter.

Fellow health insurer UnitedHealth Group Inc. said earlier this month its third-quarter profit jumped 23 percent, as a reduction in customers' use of health care helped it trump Wall Street expectations...

WHY IT MATTERS: Cigna is the fourth-largest commercial health insurer based on enrollment.

WHAT'S EXPECTED: Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters forecast, on average, earnings of $1.06 per share on $5.26 billion in revenue.

LAST YEAR'S QUARTER: Cigna's 2009 third-quarter profit soared 92 percent, as improving equity markets spurred a big turnaround in its variable annuity business. The insurer earned $329 million, or $1.19 per share. Revenue fell 8 percent to $4.5 billion, as medical enrollment slid 7 percent to 11.1 million from the third quarter of 2008.

Read the full article here. Discuss below.