Great Lakes Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Cencora, Inc. $COR

Great Lakes Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 18,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,102,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cencora during the second quarter worth about $5,154,136,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Cencora by 160.1% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,700,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,262,956,000 after acquiring an additional 4,123,795 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Cencora during the 4th quarter worth approximately $822,506,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Cencora during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $483,772,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Cencora by 518.9% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,995,118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $623,534,000 after purchasing an additional 1,672,762 shares during the last quarter. 97.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on COR. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Cencora in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $370.00 price objective on shares of Cencora in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cencora from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Cencora from $280.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Cencora from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $370.85.

Cencora Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of COR stock opened at $316.78 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $301.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $312.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.45 billion, a PE ratio of 23.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $244.82 and a 1-year high of $377.54.

Cencora (NYSE:COR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $4.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.35 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $84.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.31 billion. Cencora had a return on equity of 125.45% and a net margin of 0.79%.Cencora’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.00 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Cencora, Inc. will post 17.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cencora Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Cencora’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.83%.

Cencora announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 21st that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Cencora

In related news, Director Lauren M. Tyler acquired 550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $270.23 per share, with a total value of $148,626.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 4,359 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,177,932.57. This represents a 14.44% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.38% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Cencora 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.