ELV vs CNC Stock Comparison

Elevance Health and Centene Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ELV Elevance Health, Inc.
$431.39 +9.0% 1M +26.0% 1Y
Market cap
$91.22B
P/E
17.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$201.83B
Div. yield
–
Managed Care Healthcare
7 wins
CNC Centene Corp
$68.07 +10.1% 1M +99.8% 1Y
Market cap
$34.33B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$202.94B
Div. yield
–
Managed Care Healthcare
3 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Elevance Health leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Elevance Health 7, Centene 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionELVCNCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $91.22B $34.33B ELV
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 17.8x -6.7x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 14.4x 13.5x CNC
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +3.6% +13.9% CNC
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 2.5% -2.5% ELV
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 8.3% -14.7% ELV
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -0.5x 2.5x ELV
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +26.0% +99.8% CNC
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -0.1%/yr -0.7%/yr ELV
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 36.1% 47.5% ELV
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 71/100 49/100 ELV

Percentile Scorecard

ELVCNC

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisELVCNC
Valuation 83 #5 of 25 88 #4 of 25
Growth 26 #18 of 24 35 #16 of 24
Profitability 78 #6 of 24 35 #16 of 24
Financial Health 72 #8 of 26 56 #12 of 26
Shareholder Returns 93 #2 of 16 33 #11 of 16
Overall 71 49
  • ELV ranked among 27 companies in Healthcare Payers and Distributors
  • CNC ranked among 27 companies in Healthcare Payers and Distributors

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodELVCNCSPY
1 month +9.0%+10.1% -0.8%
3 months +14.0%+6.2% +3.5%
6 months +21.1%+56.5% +7.0%
Year to date +23.1%+65.4% +12.2%
1 year +26.0%+99.8% +13.0%
3 years -2.3%+0.9% +86.3%
3 years, per year -0.8%+0.3% +23.1%
5 years -0.5%-3.5% +68.6%
5 years, per year -0.1%-0.7% +11.0%
10 years +247.4%+112.9% +258.0%
10 years, per year +13.3%+7.8% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureELVCNCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 36.1%47.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 39.4%47.4% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.290.31 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.722.10 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -51.2%-74.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -3.2%-4.4% -1.8%
52-week high $445.45$71.21 $779.14
52-week low $280.74$31.80 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleELVCNC
P/E now vs peer median 18.2xmedian 24.3x -6.6xmedian 24.3x
P/S now vs peer median 0.5xmedian 0.3x 0.2xmedian 0.3x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 9.6xmedian 13.5x -5.2xmedian 13.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 14.3xmedian 15.6x 3.8xmedian 15.6x
P/B now vs peer median 2.1xmedian 2.5x 1.5xmedian 2.5x
PEG now vs peer median -7.78median 1.33 0.11median 1.33

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsELVCNC
Revenue $201.83B $202.94B
Gross profit $53.35B $43.22B
Operating income $7.70B -$5.64B
Net income $5.13B -$5.10B
Free cash flow $6.51B $8.95B
EPS (diluted) $23.62 $-10.25
Cash & equivalents $10.35B $24.15B
Total debt $30.76B $16.11B
Shares (diluted) 217.60M 497.64M
Enterprise value -$51.36B -$56.02B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricELVCNC
P/E 18.2x -6.6x
P/FCF 14.3x 3.8x
P/Operating cash flow 12.3x 3.4x
P/S 0.5x 0.2x
P/B 2.1x 1.5x
P/Tangible book 2.7x 1.8x
EV/EBITDA 9.6x -5.2x
EV/EBIT 11.5x -4.0x
EV/Revenue 0.4x 0.1x
EV/FCF 13.6x 2.5x
EV/Operating cash flow 11.6x 2.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -7.78 0.11

Growth

14 metrics
MetricELVCNC
Revenue growth (1Y) 3.6% 13.9%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 6.2% 11.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 4.3% 11.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 5.5% 9.7%
Operating income growth (1Y) -9.2% -394.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -4.2% -61.1%
Net income growth (1Y) -7.4% -348.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -5.2% -57.2%
EPS growth (1Y) -4.5% -346.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -2.3% -59.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 54.6% 463.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -7.2% 4.4%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 72.9% 728.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -7.6% 5.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricELVCNC
Gross margin 26.4% 21.3%
EBITDA margin 4.6% -2.2%
Operating margin 3.8% -2.8%
Pretax margin 3.1% -2.3%
Net margin 2.5% -2.5%
FCF margin 3.2% 4.4%
Operating cash flow margin 3.8% 4.8%
Return on equity 11.4% -23.1%
Return on assets 4.0% -6.2%
Return on invested capital 8.3% -14.7%
Return on capital employed 9.6% -13.6%
Asset turnover 1.6x 2.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.5x -1.9x
Stock comp / revenue 0.1% 0.1%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricELVCNC
Debt / assets 24.1% 19.4%
Debt / equity 0.7x 0.7x
Net debt / EBITDA -0.5x 2.5x
Debt / FCF 4.7x 1.8x
Liabilities / assets 65.0% 72.7%
Equity / assets 35.0% 27.3%
Interest coverage 5.3x -8.6x
Current ratio 1.5x 1.1x
Quick ratio 1.2x 1.1x
Cash ratio 0.8x 0.7x
Altman Z-score 3.07 2.83

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricELVCNC
Dividend yield 1.6% –
Net buyback yield 2.2% 0.0%
Shareholder yield 3.8% 0.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusELVCNC
Forward P/E 14.4xFY2026 13.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $30.04FY2026 $5.04FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -0.8%FY2026 +142.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +4.4% +11.5%
Revenue, next fiscal year $211.76BFY2026 $202.57BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +7.2%FY2026 +4.0%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -0.1% -0.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersELVCNC
Held by institutions 91.8% 97.9%
Institutions holding 1,610 999
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.7% +2.1%
Institutions buying 859 568
Institutions selling 540 334
Buyers to sellers 1.59 1.70

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

ELVCNC
ELV 1.00 0.59
CNC 0.59 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ELV and CNC?

Elevance Health (ELV) is the largest by market capitalisation: Elevance Health (ELV) $91.22B, Centene (CNC) $34.33B.

Which company is growing faster?

Centene (CNC) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Elevance Health (ELV) +3.6%, Centene (CNC) +13.9%.

Which company is more profitable?

Elevance Health (ELV) has the highest net margin (Elevance Health (ELV) 2.5%, Centene (CNC) -2.5%). On return on invested capital, Elevance Health (ELV) leads (Elevance Health (ELV) 8.3%, Centene (CNC) -14.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Centene (CNC) returned the most: Elevance Health (ELV) +26.0%, Centene (CNC) +99.8%. Over five years, Elevance Health (ELV) compounded fastest (Elevance Health (ELV) -0.1%/yr, Centene (CNC) -0.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Elevance Health (ELV) has been the steadiest (Elevance Health (ELV) 36.1%, Centene (CNC) 47.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do ELV and CNC move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.59, a moderate positive relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, ELV and CNC?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Elevance Health (ELV) leads on 7. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.