Does Macquarie rate NIB shares a buy, hold or sell?

Are NIB shares a buy, hold or sell according to Macquarie?

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Key points

  • Macquarie's report suggests NIB Holdings shares may be overvalued in a competitive market. 
  • The competitive market has driven down premium rates, contributing to Macquarie's cautious outlook on the stock due to operational and environmental headwinds.
  • With a price target of $5.60, there is a projected downside of 24.12% from the current share price. 

NIB Holdings Ltd (ASX: NHF) shares have opened this week down approximately 2%. 

The company is a health and medical insurance provider and has seen its share price rise by more than 30% in 2025. 

However, a new report from Macquarie suggests NIB shares may now be overvalued. 

Here's what the broker had to say. 

Competitive market

In today's report from the broker, it said competitive tension caused by the proliferation of front-end technology services is making the Australian travel insurance market less profitable.

According to Macquarie, in the last two years, front-end technology offerings have been supporting the broadening of competition across the Australian travel insurance market. 

This has added to the popularity of the aggregator channel which in turn has caused premium rates to contract. This is expected to continue over the near term.

The broker has an underperform rating on NIB shares. 

With multiple divisions experiencing operational and environmental headwinds, we retain our cautious outlook on the stock.

Any takers for NIB travel insurance?

NHF's Travel business had Net Assets of $120.9m at Jun '25. 

Within this was $107.8m of Intangible Assets (despite ~$28.6m of write-downs since COVID-19) and only $0.1m of PPE and $0.2m of Right of Use Assets

This means it owns very few physical assets – its value lies mostly in intangible assets (like brand names, software, or goodwill) rather than physical infrastructure.

Macquarie estimates that NIB Holdings travel insurance business could be worth $90-$100 million. 

However the potential pool of acquirers is extremely small. 

The competition is plentiful but we believe the list of potential acquirers is fairly short. The successful party will likely have an existing position in Australia to get the local synergies, brands across distribution channels other than Direct to avoid cannibalisation, and an international solution for both distribution and underwriting capacity.

The broker believes that the estimated value of the business is almost half what investors are expecting. This suggests the market may be overestimating its worth, given competitive headwinds and limited strategic fit for most acquirers.

Price target downside

Based on this guidance, Macquarie has an underperform rating and price target of $5.60. 

Based on today's NIB share price of $7.38, this indicates a downside of 24.12%. 

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Bell has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia's parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended NIB Holdings. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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