Short Interest in Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR) Increases By 6.1%

Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,520,000 shares, a growth of 6.1% from the August 15th total of 8,970,000 shares. Currently, 5.4% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,410,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.8 days.

Cencora Stock Performance

Cencora stock traded down $6.71 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $234.53. 2,086,274 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,371,172. Cencora has a fifty-two week low of $177.00 and a fifty-two week high of $247.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.93, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market cap of $46.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.44. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $234.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $233.26.

Cencora (NYSE:COR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $3.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.16. Cencora had a return on equity of 266.60% and a net margin of 0.65%. The company had revenue of $74.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.92 earnings per share. Cencora’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Cencora will post 13.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cencora Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. Cencora’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.32%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Steven H. Collis sold 10,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total value of $2,388,900.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 285,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,323,746.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Steven H. Collis sold 10,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total value of $2,388,900.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 285,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,323,746.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Silvana Battaglia sold 1,473 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.69, for a total transaction of $357,482.37. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,948 shares in the company, valued at $2,656,970.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 4,450,399 shares of company stock worth $1,070,392,799. 15.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cencora

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cencora during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. New Millennium Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cencora in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Legacy Bridge LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cencora in the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cencora in the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, TFO Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cencora in the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. 97.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Cencora from $287.00 to $283.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Cencora from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Cencora from $280.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Leerink Partners reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $275.00 target price on shares of Cencora in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Cencora from $236.00 to $249.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $258.13.

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.