Cencora (NYSE:COR) vs. Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) Head-To-Head Survey

Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) and Cencora (NYSE:COR) are both large-cap healthcare companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings and dividends.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Cigna Group and Cencora”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cigna Group	$274.90 billion	0.27	$5.96 billion	$24.17	11.61
Cencora	$321.33 billion	0.19	$1.55 billion	$13.46	23.88

Cigna Group has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Cencora. Cigna Group 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 recommendations for Cigna Group and Cencora, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cigna Group	0	8	15	0	2.65
Cencora	0	3	13	0	2.81

Cigna Group presently has a consensus target price of $337.10, suggesting a potential upside of 20.17%. Cencora has a consensus target price of $370.85, suggesting a potential upside of 15.37%. Given Cigna Group’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Cigna Group is more favorable than Cencora.

Dividends

Cigna Group pays an annual dividend of $6.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Cencora pays an annual dividend of $2.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Cigna Group pays out 25.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Cencora pays out 17.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Cigna Group has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years and Cencora has raised its dividend for 15 consecutive years.

Volatility & Risk

Cigna Group has a beta of 0.31, meaning that its share price is 69% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cencora has a beta of 0.57, meaning that its share price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

87.0% of Cigna Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.5% of Cencora shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of Cigna Group shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of Cencora shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cigna Group	2.27%	19.75%	5.34%
Cencora	0.79%	125.45%	4.18%

Summary

Cigna Group beats Cencora on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Cigna Group

The Cigna Group, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and related products and services in the United States. Its Evernorth Health Services segment provides a range of coordinated and point solution health services, including pharmacy benefits, home delivery pharmacy, specialty pharmacy, distribution, and care delivery and management solutions to health plans, employers, government organizations, and health care providers. The company's Cigna Healthcare segment offers medical, pharmacy, behavioral health, dental, and other products and services for insured and self-insured customers; Medicare Advantage, Medicare Supplement, and Medicare Part D plans for seniors, as well as individual health insurance plans; and health care coverage in its international markets, as well as health care benefits for mobile individuals and employees of multinational organizations. In addition, it offers permanent insurance contracts sold to corporations to provide coverage on the lives of certain employees for financing employer-paid future benefit obligations. The company distributes its products and services through insurance brokers and consultants; directly to employers, unions and other groups, or individuals; and private and public exchanges. The company was formerly known as Cigna Corporation and changed its name to The Cigna Group in February 2023. The Cigna Group was founded in 1792 and is headquartered in Bloomfield, Connecticut.

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.