Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Shares of Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the fourteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $158.07.

CAH has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $170.00 price objective (up from $157.00) on shares of Cardinal Health in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $180.00 price objective (up from $175.00) on shares of Cardinal Health in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Cardinal Health from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Cardinal Health from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Cardinal Health from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $136.00 to $179.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd.

Cardinal Health Stock Down 0.0%

NYSE:CAH traded down $0.01 on Wednesday, reaching $159.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,035,339 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,236,166. Cardinal Health has a 12-month low of $94.29 and a 12-month high of $168.44. The firm has a market cap of $38.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.68. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $158.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $140.19.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.20. Cardinal Health had a negative return on equity of 68.84% and a net margin of 0.70%. The company had revenue of $54.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.08 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Cardinal Health will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st were issued a dividend of $0.5107 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 1st. This is a positive change from Cardinal Health's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Cardinal Health's dividend payout ratio is 31.83%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cardinal Health

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 3.6% in the second quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,767 shares of the company's stock worth $297,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Cardinal Health by 3.2% in the second quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,314 shares of the company's stock valued at $389,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas grew its position in shares of Cardinal Health by 1.3% in the second quarter. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas now owns 5,598 shares of the company's stock valued at $940,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 11.2% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 767 shares of the company's stock valued at $106,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, G&S Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 0.8% in the second quarter. G&S Capital LLC now owns 9,476 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,592,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Cardinal Health

Cardinal Health, Inc operates as a healthcare services and products company in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and internationally. It provides customized solutions for hospitals, healthcare systems, pharmacies, ambulatory surgery centers, clinical laboratories, physician offices, and patients in the home.