Has CI Quietly Become a Value Play?

July 31st, 2025 by Trefis Team
CI: Cigna logo
CI
Cigna

Here is why we think Cigna (CI) deserves consideration as a value stock.

  • Reasonable Growth: 24.6% LTM and 13.2% last 3 year average.
  • Cash Generative: Nearly 2.4% free cash flow margin and 0.0% operating margin LTM.
  • No Major Shocks: CI has avoided any large revenue collapses.
  • Modest Valuation: Despite encouraging fundamentals, CI trades at a PE multiple of 17.8
  • Opportunity vs S&P: Compared to S&P, you get lower valuation, higher growth, and lower margins

Cigna provides insurance and health services, including coordinated health solutions and permanent employee life insurance contracts for employers, health plans, government, and healthcare providers in the U.S.

  CI S&P Median
Sector Health Care –
Industry Health Care Services –
PE Ratio 17.8 23.8
   
LTM* Revenue Growth 24.6% 5.0%
3Y Average Annual Revenue Growth 13.2% 5.9%
Min Annual Revenue Growth Last 3Y 3.3% -0.4%
   
LTM* Operating Margin � 18.8%
3Y Average Operating Margin � 17.5%
LTM* Free Cash Flow Margin 2.4% 13.0%

*LTM: Last Twelve Months

But do these numbers tell the full story? Read Buy or Fear CI Stock to see if Cigna still has an edge that holds up under the hood.

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That is one way to look at stocks. Trefis High Quality Portfolio evaluates much more, and is designed to reduce stock-specific risk while giving upside exposure

Stocks Like These Can Outperform. Here Is Data

For 65 similar value stocks chosen as of mid 2024, consider the following stats for the subsequent 1 year period.

  • Average peak return of 39.3% vs 14.4% for S&P, with maximum peak return of 133%
  • Win rate of 60%; win rate represents % of stocks with positive return
  • Average 1-year return of 14.6%, similar to S&P’s despite tariff instability

But Consider The Risk

That said, the stock isn’t immune to big drops. It fell 84% in the Global Financial Crisis and 46% during the Dot-Com Bubble. Even the 2018 correction and the Covid sell-off saw declines of around 35% and 41%, respectively. The recent inflation shock also pushed it down nearly 28%. Strong fundamentals matter, but when things get ugly, steep declines still happen.

But the risk is not limited to major market crashes. Stocks fall even when markets are good – think events like earnings, business updates, outlook changes. Read CI Dip Buyer Analyses to see how the stock has recovered from sharp dips in the past.

The Trefis High Quality (HQ) Portfolio, with a collection of 30 stocks, has a track record of comfortably outperforming the S&P 500 over the last 4-year period. Why is that? As a group, HQ Portfolio stocks provided better returns with less risk versus the benchmark index; less of a roller-coaster ride, as evident in HQ Portfolio performance metrics.