Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have given a hold recommendation and twelve have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $387.40.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ELV shares. Leerink Partners boosted their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $350.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $297.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $404.00 to $393.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $400.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on Elevance Health from $431.00 to $409.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ELV opened at $291.36 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $332.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $333.59. The company has a market cap of $64.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.60, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 1.54. Elevance Health has a one year low of $273.71 and a one year high of $458.75.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.23. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 15.59% and a net margin of 2.84%.The firm had revenue of $49.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.84 EPS. Elevance Health’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Elevance Health has set its FY 2026 guidance at 25.500- EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Elevance Health will post 33.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.72 per share. This is a boost from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.71. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $6.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Elevance Health

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ELV. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 94.9% during the 2nd quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 76 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. increased 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 last quarter. Rossby Financial LCC raised its holdings in Elevance Health by 110.0% in the third quarter. Rossby Financial LCC now owns 84 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management raised its holdings in Elevance Health by 66.7% in the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 85 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in Elevance Health during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. 89.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.