Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Announces $1.63 Quarterly Dividend

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, October 18th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of 1.63 per share on Friday, December 20th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th.

Elevance Health has increased its dividend by an average of 15.9% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 13 consecutive years. Elevance Health has a dividend payout ratio of 15.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Elevance Health to earn $41.65 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $6.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 15.7%.

Elevance Health Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ELV opened at $430.76 on Friday. Elevance Health has a 12 month low of $397.98 and a 12 month high of $567.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 1.49. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $526.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $527.46.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The company reported $8.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.66 by ($1.29). Elevance Health had a return on equity of 20.64% and a net margin of 3.89%. The firm had revenue of $44.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $8.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Elevance Health will post 37.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ELV shares. Argus downgraded Elevance Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $530.00 price target (down previously from $646.00) on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. UBS Group lowered their price objective 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. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $520.00 target price (down from $620.00) on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Friday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on Elevance Health from $600.00 to $485.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $572.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Elevance Health news, CEO Gail Boudreaux sold 34,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.98, for a total value of $17,033,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 126,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,478,674.82. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 7,417 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $432.14, for a total value of $3,205,182.38. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,423 shares in the company, valued at $3,639,915.22. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gail Boudreaux sold 34,000 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.98, for a total value of $17,033,320.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,478,674.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 42,170 shares of company stock valued at $20,638,737 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.35% 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.