Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have given a hold recommendation and twelve have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $387.40.

A number of analysts have recently commented on ELV shares. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on Elevance Health from $431.00 to $409.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Wolfe Research set a $425.00 target price on Elevance Health and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Wall Street Zen lowered Elevance Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Elevance Health from $359.00 to $352.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 17th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 94.9% during the 2nd quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 76 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Elevance Health by 331.6% in the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 82 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Rossby Financial LCC increased its holdings in Elevance Health by 110.0% in the 3rd quarter. Rossby Financial LCC now owns 84 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management raised its position in Elevance Health by 66.7% in the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 85 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Finally, Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Elevance Health in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. 89.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Elevance Health Price Performance

ELV opened at $291.36 on Friday. Elevance Health has a 1 year low of $273.71 and a 1 year high of $458.75. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $332.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $333.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.31 billion, a PE ratio of 11.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 1.54.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $3.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $49.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.52 billion. Elevance Health had a net margin of 2.84% and a return on equity of 15.59%. Elevance Health’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.84 earnings per share. Elevance Health has set its FY 2026 guidance at 25.500- EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Elevance Health will post 33.96 EPS for the current year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $1.72 per share. This is a boost from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.71. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $6.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

About Elevance Health

Elevance Health, Inc (NYSE: ELV) is a large U.S.-based health benefits company that provides a broad range of health insurance products and related services. Headquartered in Indianapolis, the company rebranded from Anthem, Inc to Elevance Health in 2022 while continuing to operate consumer-facing health plans under established state and national brands. Gail Boudreaux serves as chief executive officer and president, leading the company’s strategic focus on integrated health care and benefit delivery.

Elevance’s core activities include offering medical and specialty health plans for individuals, employers and government programs, including Medicare and Medicaid managed-care products.