Cencora (NYSE:COR) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cencora (NYSE:COR) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Saturday morning.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on Cencora from $412.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Cencora in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird set a $370.00 price objective on Cencora in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Cencora in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Cencora from $280.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cencora has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $368.92.

Cencora Stock Performance

Shares of Cencora stock opened at $324.17 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $295.07 and a 200 day moving average of $313.94. Cencora has a 12 month low of $244.82 and a 12 month high of $377.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.53, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.58.

Cencora (NYSE:COR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $4.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.35 by $0.13. Cencora had a net margin of 0.79% and a return on equity of 125.45%. The company had revenue of $84.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Cencora will post 17.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Cencora announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 21st that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Cencora Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Cencora’s payout ratio is 17.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cencora

In other Cencora news, Director Lauren M. Tyler bought 550 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $270.23 per share, for a total transaction of $148,626.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,359 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,177,932.57. The trade was a 14.44% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Cencora during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Oakworth Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cencora in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cencora in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Archer Investment Corp increased its holdings in shares of Cencora by 134.3% in the fourth quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 82 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cencora during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. 97.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cencora Company Profile

Cencora (NYSE:COR) is a global healthcare services and pharmaceutical distribution company that provides end-to-end solutions across the pharmaceutical supply chain. The company’s core activities include wholesale drug distribution, specialty drug distribution, and the operation of specialty pharmacies, complemented by logistics, cold-chain management and other fulfillment services designed to support complex and temperature-sensitive therapies.

Beyond physical distribution, Cencora offers a range of commercial and patient-focused services for pharmaceutical manufacturers and healthcare providers.