Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Seventeen analysts give Cardinal Health an average recommendation of Moderate Buy (14 buys, 2 holds, 1 strong buy) with an average 12‑month price target of $244.33, and several firms (Citigroup, Barclays, Argus, Leerink) have recently raised targets or ratings.
• Cardinal Health beat expectations for the quarter—EPS $2.63 vs. $2.31 estimate and revenue $65.63B (up 18.8% y/y)—but reported a slim net margin (0.68%) and a negative return on equity (−92.5%).
• The company recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.5107 (annualized $2.04, ~1.0% yield) with a payout ratio of 29.35%, and institutional investors hold about 87.17% of the stock.

Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seventeen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fourteen have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $244.3333.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CAH shares. Citigroup upgraded shares of Cardinal Health from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $244.00 in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $243.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Wall Street Zen cut Cardinal Health from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, April 12th. Argus upped their target price on Cardinal Health from $232.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Leerink Partners reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $275.00 price target on shares of Cardinal Health in a report on Monday, March 9th.

Cardinal Health Trading Up 0.7%

CAH stock opened at $213.22 on Friday. Cardinal Health has a 1-year low of $129.52 and a 1-year high of $233.60. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $217.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $202.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.17 billion, a PE ratio of 30.68, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.64.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.32. Cardinal Health had a negative return on equity of 92.50% and a net margin of 0.68%.The business had revenue of $65.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.93 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Cardinal Health will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st were given a dividend of $0.5107 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 1st. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Cardinal Health's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.35%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cardinal Health

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CAH. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Cardinal Health by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,441,258 shares of the company's stock worth $6,461,179,000 after purchasing an additional 617,775 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Cardinal Health by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,509,230 shares of the company's stock worth $2,570,647,000 after purchasing an additional 221,497 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,529,013 shares of the company's stock worth $1,336,750,000 after purchasing an additional 43,924 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 153.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,804,090 shares of the company's stock worth $911,010,000 after purchasing an additional 3,511,579 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $790,344,000. Institutional investors own 87.17% of the company's stock.

About Cardinal Health

Cardinal Health is a multinational healthcare services and products company headquartered in Dublin, Ohio. Tracing its roots to the early 1970s, the company has grown into a major provider of supply chain and distribution services for the healthcare sector. Cardinal Health operates across a range of service lines that support hospitals, health systems, pharmacies, physician offices and clinical laboratories.

The company's core activities include the wholesale distribution of branded and generic pharmaceuticals, the supply and distribution of medical-surgical products, and the provision of logistics and inventory management solutions.

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