Leerink Partnrs Has Bearish Outlook for Cencora Q1 Earnings

Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR) – Equities research analysts at Leerink Partnrs cut their Q1 2026 EPS estimates for Cencora in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, November 5th. Leerink Partnrs analyst M. Cherny now anticipates that the company will post earnings per share of $3.89 for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $4.09. The consensus estimate for Cencora’s current full-year earnings is $15.37 per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for Cencora’s Q2 2026 earnings at $5.00 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $4.39 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $4.44 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $17.73 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $19.67 EPS, FY2028 earnings at $21.91 EPS and FY2029 earnings at $24.32 EPS.

Cencora (NYSE:COR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $3.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.79 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $83.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $83.36 billion. Cencora had a net margin of 0.60% and a return on equity of 267.36%. The company’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.34 earnings per share. Cencora has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.450-17.75 EPS.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Cencora from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Cencora from $355.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Cencora from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Cencora from $337.00 to $354.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $400.00 target price on Cencora and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $348.00.

Cencora Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of COR traded up $1.01 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $361.25. 115,408 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,537,141. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $312.89 and its 200-day moving average is $298.79. Cencora has a 52 week low of $223.92 and a 52 week high of $364.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.64, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.90. The company has a market cap of $70.04 billion, a PE ratio of 37.17, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cencora

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC grew its position in Cencora by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $745,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Security Financial Services INC. lifted its stake in shares of Cencora by 2.6% in the third quarter. Security Financial Services INC. now owns 1,325 shares of the company’s stock worth $414,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cencora by 70.0% during the second quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 85 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Cencora by 12.0% during the third quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 327 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Obermeyer Wealth Partners increased its position in shares of Cencora by 1.3% during the first quarter. Obermeyer Wealth Partners now owns 2,724 shares of the company’s stock valued at $758,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.52% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Cencora

In other Cencora news, CEO Robert P. Mauch sold 5,097 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.80, for a total value of $1,665,699.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 37,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,398,792. This represents a 11.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Steven H. Collis sold 31,350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.86, for a total value of $9,087,111.00. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 305,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $88,671,942.18. This represents a 9.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 41,544 shares of company stock valued at $12,230,941 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Cencora Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is a positive change from Cencora’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Cencora’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.63%.

Cencora Company Profile

Cencora, Inc sources and distributes pharmaceutical products. The company's U.S. Healthcare Solutions segment distributes pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter healthcare products, home healthcare supplies and equipment, and related services to acute care hospitals and health systems, independent and chain retail pharmacies, mail order pharmacies, medical clinics, long-term care and alternate site pharmacies, and other customers; provides pharmacy management, staffing, and other consulting services; supply management software to retail and institutional healthcare providers; packaging solutions to various institutional and retail healthcare providers; clinical trial support, product post-approval, and commercialization support services; data analytics, outcomes research, and additional services for biotechnology and pharmaceutical manufacturers; pharmaceuticals, vaccines, parasiticides, diagnostics, micro feed ingredients, and other products to the companion animal and production animal markets; and sales force services to manufacturers.