Contrasting Solventum (NYSE:SOLV) & Cencora (NYSE:COR)

Solventum (NYSE:SOLV) and Cencora (NYSE:COR) are both large-cap medical companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, risk, dividends and institutional ownership.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

97.5% of Cencora shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Solventum shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of Cencora shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

Solventum has a beta of 0.69, meaning that its share price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cencora has a beta of 0.59, meaning that its share price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Solventum and Cencora”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Solventum	$8.33 billion	1.53	$1.56 billion	$8.16	9.00
Cencora	$321.33 billion	0.16	$1.55 billion	$13.04	20.79

Solventum has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Cencora. Solventum is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Cencora, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Solventum and Cencora, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Solventum	1	5	8	0	2.50
Cencora	0	3	12	0	2.80

Solventum currently has a consensus target price of $84.25, indicating a potential upside of 14.76%. Cencora has a consensus target price of $374.00, indicating a potential upside of 37.94%. Given Cencora’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Cencora is more favorable than Solventum.

Profitability

This table compares Solventum and Cencora’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Solventum	17.33%	23.51%	7.63%
Cencora	0.78%	135.20%	4.20%

Summary

Cencora beats Solventum on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Solventum

Solventum Corporation, a healthcare company, engages in the developing, manufacturing, and commercializing a portfolio of solutions to address critical customer and patient needs. It operates through four segments: Medsurg, Dental Solutions, Health Information Systems, and Purification and Filtration. The Medsurg segment is a provider of solutions including advanced wound care, I.V. site management, sterilization assurance, temperature management, surgical supplies, stethoscopes, and medical electrodes. The Dental Solutions segment provides a comprehensive suite of dental and orthodontic products including brackets, aligners, restorative cements, and bonding agents. The Health Information Systems provides software solutions including computer-assisted, physician documentation, direct-to-bill and coding automation, classification methodologies, speech, recognition, and data visualization platforms. The Purification and Filtration segment provides purification and filtration technologies including filters, purifiers, cartridges, and membranes. The company was incorporated in 2023 and is based in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

About Cencora

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. This segment also distributes plasma and other blood products, injectable pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and other specialty products; and provides other services to physicians who specialize in various disease states, such as oncology, as well as to other healthcare providers, including hospitals and dialysis clinics. Its International Healthcare Solutions segment offers international pharmaceutical wholesale and related service, and global commercialization services; distributes pharmaceuticals, other healthcare products, and related services to pharmacies, doctors, health centers, and hospitals primarily in Europe; and provides specialty transportation and logistics services for the biopharmaceutical industry. The company was formerly known as AmerisourceBergen Corporation and changed its name to Cencora, Inc. in August 2023. Cencora, Inc. was incorporated in 2001 and is headquartered in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.