Anthem Q4 Profit Beats Estimates; Revenue Up 14.9%

(RTTNews) - Anthem, Inc. (ANTM) reported fourth-quarter adjusted profit per share of $5.14 compared to $2.54, prior year. On average, 21 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report profit per share of $5.11, for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Net profit to shareholders was $1.14 billion or $4.63 per share compared to $551 million or $2.19 per share. Revenue were up 14.9% to $36.58 billion from $31.82 billion, a year ago. Analysts on average had estimated $36.51 billion in revenue. Revenue increased 15.9 percent after adjusting for the repeal of the health insurance tax in 2021. Medical enrollment totaled approximately 45.4 million members as of December 31, 2021, an increase of 5.7 percent from the prior year quarter. For fiscal 2022, the company expects adjusted EPS to be greater than $28.25, and operating revenue to be approximately $152 billion, including premium revenue of approximately $130 billion. Analysts expect the company to report profit per share of $28.66 on revenue of $153 billion. Medical membership is expected to be in the range of 45.6 - 46.2 million.

On January 25, 2022, the Audit Committee declared a first quarter 2022 dividend to shareholders of $1.28 per share, an increase of over 13 percent from the quarterly dividend payment in the fourth quarter. On an annualized basis, the new quarterly dividend equates to $5.12 per share.

The first quarter dividend is payable on March 25, 2022, to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 10, 2022.