Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at StockNews.com

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 Thursday morning.

CAH has been the subject of several other research reports. Argus raised shares of Cardinal Health from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. SVB Leerink started coverage on Cardinal Health in a research report on Monday, February 26th. They set an outperform rating and a $125.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays started coverage on Cardinal Health in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued an overweight rating and a $117.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Cardinal Health from $96.00 to $94.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Leerink Partnrs reiterated an outperform rating on shares of Cardinal Health in a research note on Monday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cardinal Health presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $105.79.

Cardinal Health Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CAH traded down $4.08 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $98.90. 3,445,729 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,288,769. The stock has a market cap of $24.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.71. Cardinal Health has a fifty-two week low of $77.56 and a fifty-two week high of $116.04. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $109.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $104.97.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.13. Cardinal Health had a net margin of 0.30% and a negative return on equity of 57.44%. The business had revenue of $54.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $56.05 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.74 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Cardinal Health will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 1st were given a $0.5006 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 28th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.74%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cardinal Health

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAH. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cardinal Health in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in Cardinal Health by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 6,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $673,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Cardinal Health by 50.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 184,537 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,649,000 after buying an additional 61,933 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC raised its position in Cardinal Health by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 282,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,470,000 after buying an additional 38,769 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Certuity LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health in the 4th quarter worth $228,000. 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.