Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH – Get Rating) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $61.29.

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays cut shares of Cardinal Health from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 26th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $74.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 14th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Cardinal Health from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $55.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Cardinal Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 6th. Finally, TheStreet lowered shares of Cardinal Health from a “c+” rating to a “d+” rating in a report on Thursday, May 5th.

Cardinal Health Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of Cardinal Health stock opened at $61.51 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $54.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.33. Cardinal Health has a 52-week low of $45.85 and a 52-week high of $64.53. The company has a market cap of $16.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.38, a PEG ratio of 8.21 and a beta of 0.86.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 5th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by ($0.09). Cardinal Health had a positive return on equity of 155.24% and a negative net margin of 0.54%. The firm had revenue of $44.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Cardinal Health will post 5.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cardinal Health Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, July 1st were issued a dividend of $0.4957 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 30th. This is an increase from Cardinal Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $1.98 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.18%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cardinal Health

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Allegheny Financial Group LTD acquired a new stake in Cardinal Health in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Cardinal Health by 6,455.0% in the first quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,513,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,490,404 shares during the period. LS Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Cardinal Health in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Cardinal Health by 60.4% in the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the period. Finally, CX Institutional acquired a new stake in Cardinal Health in the second quarter valued at $33,000. 84.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Cardinal Health

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Cardinal Health, Inc operates as an integrated 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.