StockNews.com Upgrades Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) to Strong-Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on CAH. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $96.00 to $94.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Cardinal Health from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Leerink Partnrs reaffirmed an outperform rating on shares of Cardinal Health in a report on Monday, February 26th. Argus dropped their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, SVB Leerink assumed coverage on shares of Cardinal Health in a report on Monday, February 26th. They set an outperform rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $109.67.

Cardinal Health Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of CAH opened at $99.64 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $24.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.64. Cardinal Health has a 12 month low of $85.11 and a 12 month high of $116.04. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $100.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $104.59.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $54.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $56.05 billion. Cardinal Health had a net margin of 0.25% and a negative return on equity of 54.74%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.74 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Cardinal Health will post 7.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 1st will be issued a $0.5056 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 1st. This represents a $2.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. This is a positive change from Cardinal Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 88.89%.

Institutional Trading of Cardinal Health

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CAH. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $258,499,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 82.2% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,128,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,390,000 after purchasing an additional 1,862,291 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Cardinal Health by 118.9% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,516,035 shares of the company’s stock valued at $152,816,000 after purchasing an additional 823,520 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Cardinal Health by 19.1% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,723,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $416,585,000 after acquiring an additional 598,002 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Cardinal Health during the 1st quarter worth $56,454,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

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.