Aetna (NYSE: AET)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by equities research analysts at TheStreet in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

The analysts wrote, “Aetna (AET) has been reiterated by TheStreet Ratings as a buy with a ratings score of A- . The company’s strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, attractive valuation levels, good cash flow from operations, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and increase in stock price during the past year. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had sub par growth in net income.”

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on AET. Analysts at Jefferies Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Aetna in a research note to investors on Tuesday, February 12th. They now have a $58.00 price target on the stock. Separately, analysts at Zacks reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Aetna in a research note to investors on Tuesday, February 5th. They now have a $51.00 price target on the stock. Finally, analysts at BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Aetna in a research note to investors on Friday, February 1st. They now have a $56.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $52.00.

Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, one has given an overweight rating, and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company. The company has an average rating of “overweight” and an average target price of $54.92.

Shares of Aetna traded down 0.02% during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $47.49. Aetna has a 52 week low of $34.58 and a 52 week high of $51.14. The stock’s 50-day moving average is currently $48.32. The company has a market cap of $15.577 billion and a P/E ratio of 9.88.

Aetna last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 31st. The company reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $8.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Aetna has set its FY13 guidance at at least $5.40 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Aetna will post $5.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which is scheduled for Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th.

Aetna Inc. (Aetna) is a diversified healthcare benefits company. The Company offers a range of traditional and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmacy, dental, behavioral health, group life and disability plans, medical management capabilities, Medicaid healthcare management services and health information exchange technology services.

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