Comparing Ardent Health (NYSE:ARDT) & Cencora (NYSE:COR)

Ardent Health (NYSE:ARDT) and Cencora (NYSE:COR) are both medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, dividends and risk.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ardent Health	2.09%	13.85%	4.48%
Cencora	0.78%	135.20%	4.20%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Ardent Health and Cencora, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ardent Health	2	5	7	0	2.36
Cencora	0	4	11	0	2.73

Ardent Health presently has a consensus price target of $14.21, suggesting a potential upside of 39.61%. Cencora has a consensus price target of $367.75, suggesting a potential upside of 18.73%. Given Ardent Health’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Ardent Health is more favorable than Cencora.

Risk and Volatility

Ardent Health has a beta of 0.76, suggesting that its share price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cencora has a beta of 0.58, suggesting that its share price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

97.5% of Cencora shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.9% of Ardent Health shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of Cencora shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Ardent Health and Cencora”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ardent Health	$6.43 billion	0.23	$135.81 million	$0.95	10.71
Cencora	$321.33 billion	0.19	$1.55 billion	$13.04	23.75

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

Summary

Cencora beats Ardent Health on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ardent Health

Ardent Health Partners, Inc. owns and operates a network of hospitals and clinics that provides a range of healthcare services in the United States. It operates acute care hospitals, including rehabilitation hospitals and surgical hospitals. The company was founded in 2001 and is based in Brentwood, Tennessee. Ardent Health Partners, Inc. is a subsidiary of EGI-AM Investments, L.L.C.

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.