Cencora (NYSE:COR) Hits New 12-Month High Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $262.26 and last traded at $254.98, with a volume of 128791 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $251.57.

The company reported $3.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.50 by $0.23. Cencora had a net margin of 0.51% and a return on equity of 266.62%.

Cencora Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Cencora’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Cencora in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $280.00 price target for the company. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Cencora from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Cencora from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Cencora from $263.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Cencora from $237.00 to $251.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cencora news, EVP Silvana Battaglia sold 1,678 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.72, for a total transaction of $383,792.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,329 shares in the company, valued at $4,649,648.88. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Steven H. Collis sold 21,509 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.16, for a total transaction of $5,208,619.44. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 306,752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,283,064.32. This represents a 6.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 73,187 shares of company stock worth $17,790,912 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cencora

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of COR. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cencora by 6,855.3% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,065,374 shares of the company’s stock worth $464,874,000 after buying an additional 2,035,679 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cencora during the fourth quarter worth approximately $322,460,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Cencora by 7.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,193,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,168,927,000 after buying an additional 338,452 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Cencora by 40.2% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,077,272 shares of the company’s stock worth $243,173,000 after buying an additional 308,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its holdings in shares of Cencora by 21.7% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,638,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,771,000 after buying an additional 292,600 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.52% of the company’s stock.

Cencora Trading Down 2.8 %

The company has a market cap of $47.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.49. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $239.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $236.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.84.

Cencora Company Profile

Cencora, Inc sources and distributes pharmaceutical products. The company's U.S. Healthcare Solutions segment distributes pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter healthcare products, home healthcare supplies and equipment, and related services to acute care hospitals and health systems, independent and chain retail pharmacies, mail order pharmacies, medical clinics, long-term care and alternate site pharmacies, and other customers; provides pharmacy management, staffing, and other consulting services; supply management software to retail and institutional healthcare providers; packaging solutions to various institutional and retail healthcare providers; clinical trial support, product post-approval, and commercialization support services; data analytics, outcomes research, and additional services for biotechnology and pharmaceutical manufacturers; pharmaceuticals, vaccines, parasiticides, diagnostics, micro feed ingredients, and other products to the companion animal and production animal markets; and sales force services to manufacturers.