Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Short Interest Update

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 13th, there was short interest totaling 4,649,830 shares, an increase of 29.3% from the January 29th total of 3,595,465 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,722,452 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days. Based on an average trading volume of 1,722,452 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days. Currently, 2.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Elevance Health

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Elevance Health by 116.4% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its position in shares of Elevance Health by 17.3% in the 2nd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 3,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,343,000 after buying an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 6.4% during the second quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 14,155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,506,000 after buying an additional 853 shares during the period. Mission Wealth Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 2.2% during the second quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 3,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,276,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, South Dakota Investment Council lifted its stake in Elevance Health by 64.9% in the second quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 43,053 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,746,000 after acquiring an additional 16,939 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on ELV. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $394.00 to $397.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $400.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Wolfe Research set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Elevance Health and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Elevance Health from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $332.00 price target on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Elevance Health currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $390.55.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

Elevance Health stock opened at $291.46 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $346.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $335.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Elevance Health has a twelve month low of $273.71 and a twelve month high of $458.75. The company has a market capitalization of $64.33 billion, a PE ratio of 11.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.51.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $49.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.52 billion. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 15.59% and a net margin of 2.84%.Elevance Health’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.84 EPS. Elevance Health has set its FY 2026 guidance at 25.500- EPS. Research analysts expect that Elevance Health will post 33.96 EPS for the current year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $1.72 per share. This represents a $6.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This is an increase from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.71. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.23%.

About Elevance Health

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.