Aetna quarterly profit rises

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Aetna Inc. (AET.N), the No. 3 U.S. health insurer, posted a 16 percent rise in second-quarter earnings on Thursday, helped by an increase in enrollment, and the company raised its full-year forecast.

Net income rose to $451.3 million, or 85 cents per share, from $389.5 million, or 67 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding special items, operating earnings were 83 cents per share.

Analysts on average expected 80 cents, according to Reuters Estimates. It was not immediately clear whether the estimate was comparable to the reported results.

Revenue at the Hartford, Connecticut-based company rose 9 percent to $6.8 billion.

Citing the results, Aetna lifted its full-year operating earnings per-share forecast to a range of $3.40 to $3.42, from its prior view of $3.35.

Aetna is the third major health insurer to report earnings this quarter. Rivals UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH.N) and WellPoint Inc. (WLP.N) posted higher second-quarter profits, but failed to excite investors with their results.

Aetna shares have risen about 17 percent in 2007, outperforming a roughly 4 percent increase for the S&P Managed Health Care index .GSPHMO, a barometer of large health insurers.

(Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf)