StockNews.com Upgrades Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) to Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on ELV. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 price target on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Friday, January 24th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Elevance Health from $585.00 to $505.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $405.40 price target on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $589.00 to $484.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $605.00 to $555.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Elevance Health currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $517.03.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

NYSE:ELV opened at $402.29 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The firm has a market cap of $93.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.83. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $386.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $456.00. Elevance Health has a 1-year low of $362.21 and a 1-year high of $567.26.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.80 by $0.04. Elevance Health had a net margin of 3.38% and a return on equity of 18.28%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Elevance Health will post 34.07 EPS for the current year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $1.71 dividend. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.70%. This is a boost from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is 25.46%.

Institutional Trading of Elevance Health

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $833,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its position in Elevance Health by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 50,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,551,000 after acquiring an additional 3,049 shares during the last quarter. Iridian Asset Management LLC CT grew its stake in Elevance Health by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. Iridian Asset Management LLC CT now owns 39,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,360,000 after acquiring an additional 3,786 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Elevance Health by 85,533.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 532,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $276,972,000 after acquiring an additional 532,016 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 1,711.9% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 53,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,858,000 after purchasing an additional 50,603 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

About Elevance Health

Elevance Health, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a health benefits company in the United States. The company operates through four segments: Health Benefits, CarelonRx, Carelon Services, and Corporate & Other. It offers a variety of health plans and services to program members; health products; an array of fee-based administrative managed care services; and specialty and other insurance products and services, such as stop loss, dental, vision, life, disability, and supplemental health insurance benefits.