Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Elevance Health has an average analyst rating of “Moderate Buy”, with 13 buy ratings and 10 hold ratings from 23 analysts. The average 12-month price target is about $384.58.
• The company recently beat first-quarter earnings and revenue expectations, reporting EPS of $12.58 versus estimates of $10.74 and revenue of $49.49 billion versus expectations of $48.21 billion. It also raised its guidance, which has helped support a more positive outlook.
• Elevance Health announced a quarterly dividend of $1.72 per share, payable June 25, implying an annualized dividend of $6.88 and a yield of about 1.8%. Institutional ownership remains high at 89.24% of shares outstanding.

Shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the twenty-three analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $384.5789.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Elevance Health from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, February 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Elevance Health from $384.00 to $424.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Elevance Health from $317.00 to $331.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Elevance Health from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $395.00 to $391.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 20th.

Elevance Health Price Performance

ELV opened at $377.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 1.48. Elevance Health has a 52-week low of $273.71 and a 52-week high of $424.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.01 billion, a PE ratio of 16.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.66. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $312.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $332.13.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported $12.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.74 by $1.84. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 15.58% and a net margin of 2.62%.The firm had revenue of $49.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $48.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $11.97 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Elevance Health has set its FY 2026 guidance at 19.850- EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Elevance Health will post 26.79 EPS for the current year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 10th will be paid a $1.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 10th. This represents a $6.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Elevance Health's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.26%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ELV. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 331.6% in the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 82 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Activest Wealth Management grew its holdings in Elevance Health by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 85 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Rossby Financial LCC grew its holdings in Elevance Health by 110.0% during the 3rd quarter. Rossby Financial LCC now owns 84 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Elevance Health during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Elevance Health in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 89.24% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Elevance Health

Here are the key news stories impacting Elevance Health this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Elevance beat first-quarter expectations and raised EPS guidance, which is helping support investor confidence in the company’s near-term outlook. A Look At Elevance Health (ELV) Valuation After Q1 Beat And Raised EPS Guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research lifted FY2026 EPS estimates to $26.79 from $25.53, matching the consensus estimate and signaling stronger expected earnings this year.
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks also raised FY2027 EPS estimates to $28.51 from $28.40, and increased its Q2 2027 forecast to $7.23 from $7.20, suggesting analysts still see healthy longer-term profitability.

Elevance Health Company Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.