S&P: Aetna stable

Standard & Poor's said it revised its outlook on Aetna Inc. to stable from positive.

The agency also affirmed its A-/A-2 counterparty credit rating on the company and it's A+ long-term counterparty and financial strength ratings on Aetna's core operating subsidiaries.

The rating actions are related to Aetna's planned acquisition of Coventry for about $5.7 billion.

"We are revising the outlook because this acquisition is by far the largest transaction undertaken by Aetna in more than a decade, creating significant integration risk including the integration of information systems, marketing organizations and provider networks," said S&P credit analyst Neal Freedman in a news release.

S&P said the stable outlook reflects its expectation that Aetna will preserve and ultimately enhance its market profile through the Coventry acquisition and that pricing flexibility will be sustained in most to all of the company's key geographies.

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