Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH – Get Free Report) and Clover Health Investments (NASDAQ:CLOV – Get Free Report) are both healthcare companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, risk and valuation.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current ratings for Cardinal Health and Clover Health Investments, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Cardinal Health | 0 | 3 | 16 | 0 | 2.84 |
| Clover Health Investments | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 |
Cardinal Health currently has a consensus target price of $266.56, indicating a potential upside of 13.36%. Clover Health Investments has a consensus target price of $4.33, indicating a potential upside of 1.96%. Given Cardinal Health’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Cardinal Health is more favorable than Clover Health Investments.
Valuation & Earnings
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Cardinal Health | $254.25 billion | 0.22 | $1.71 billion | $7.23 | 32.52 |
| Clover Health Investments | $1.92 billion | 1.17 | -$85.55 million | ($0.05) | -85.00 |
Cardinal Health has higher revenue and earnings than Clover Health Investments. Clover Health Investments is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Cardinal Health, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Volatility and Risk
Cardinal Health has a beta of 0.49, meaning that its share price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Clover Health Investments has a beta of 2.47, meaning that its share price is 147% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares Cardinal Health and Clover Health Investments’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Cardinal Health | 0.67% | -98.53% | 4.69% |
| Clover Health Investments | -0.74% | -4.20% | -2.28% |
Institutional & Insider Ownership
87.2% of Cardinal Health shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 19.8% of Clover Health Investments shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Cardinal Health shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 23.5% of Clover Health Investments shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Summary
Cardinal Health beats Clover Health Investments on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
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. The company operates in two segments, Pharmaceutical and Medical. The Pharmaceutical segment distributes branded and generic pharmaceutical, specialty pharmaceutical, and over-the-counter healthcare and consumer products. The segment also provides services to pharmaceutical manufacturers and healthcare providers for specialty pharmaceutical products; operates nuclear pharmacies and radiopharmaceutical manufacturing facilities; repackages generic pharmaceuticals and over-the-counter healthcare products; and provides pharmacy management services to hospitals. The Medical segment manufactures, sources, and distributes Cardinal Health branded medical, surgical, and laboratory products and devices that include exam and surgical gloves; needles, syringe, and sharps disposals; compressions; incontinences; nutritional delivery products; wound care products; single-use surgical drapes, gowns, and apparels; fluid suction and collection systems; urology products; operating room supply products; and electrode product lines. The segment also distributes a range of national brand products, including medical, surgical, and laboratory products; provides supply chain services and solutions to hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, clinical laboratories, and other healthcare providers; and assembles and sells sterile, and non-sterile procedure kits. The company was incorporated in 1979 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ohio.
About Clover Health Investments
Clover Health Investments, Corp. provides medicare advantage plans in the United States. It operates through two segments: Insurance and Non-Insurance. It also offers Clover Assistant, a cloud-based software platform, that enables physicians to detect, identify, and manage chronic diseases earlier; and access to data-driven and personalized insights for the patients they treat. Clover Health Investments, Corp. is based in Franklin, Tennessee.
Receive News & Ratings for Cardinal Health Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Cardinal Health and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
