HUM vs CNC vs ELV Stock Comparison

Humana, Centene and Elevance Health Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
HUM Humana Inc
$422.42 +12.7% 1M +45.0% 1Y
Market cap
$49.99B
P/E
39.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$145.68B
Div. yield
–
Managed Care Healthcare
3 wins
CNC Centene Corp
$70.18 +13.1% 1M +104.2% 1Y
Market cap
$33.50B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$202.94B
Div. yield
–
Managed Care Healthcare
2 wins
ELV Elevance Health, Inc.
$439.75 +10.3% 1M +27.0% 1Y
Market cap
$93.43B
P/E
18.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$201.83B
Div. yield
–
Managed Care Healthcare
6 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Elevance Health leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Elevance Health 6, Humana 3, Centene 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionHUMCNCELVLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $49.99B $33.50B $93.43B ELV
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 39.1x -6.6x 18.2x ELV
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 48.8x 13.9x 15.6x CNC
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +18.3% +13.9% +3.6% HUM
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 0.9% -2.5% 2.5% ELV
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 6.7% -14.7% -153.2% HUM
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -2.7x 2.5x 0.0x HUM
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +45.0% +104.2% +27.0% CNC
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -1.8%/yr +0.3%/yr +0.3%/yr ELV
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 48.0% 47.4% 36.0% ELV
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 47/100 49/100 51/100 ELV

Percentile Scorecard

HUMCNCELV

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

AxisHUMCNCELV
Valuation 58 #11 of 25 83 #5 of 25 50 #13 of 25
Growth 13 #21 of 24 35 #16 of 24 30 #17 of 24
Profitability 52 #12 of 24 39 #15 of 24 44 #14 of 24
Financial Health 72 #8 of 26 56 #12 of 26 44 #15 of 26
Shareholder Returns 38 #11 of 17 31 #12 of 17 88 #3 of 17
Overall 47 49 51
  • HUM ranked among 27 companies in Healthcare Payers and Distributors
  • CNC ranked among 27 companies in Healthcare Payers and Distributors
  • ELV 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

PeriodHUMCNCELVSPY
1 month +12.7%+13.1%+10.3% -1.0%
3 months +8.5%+10.7%+16.5% +2.9%
6 months +96.3%+67.8%+27.6% +6.4%
Year to date +64.9%+70.5%+25.4% +11.4%
1 year +45.0%+104.2%+27.0% +13.1%
3 years -18.2%+0.7%-2.8% +79.4%
3 years, per year -6.5%+0.2%-1.0% +21.5%
5 years -8.5%+1.4%+1.5% +67.7%
5 years, per year -1.8%+0.3%+0.3% +10.9%
10 years +140.2%+126.0%+256.1% +255.2%
10 years, per year +9.2%+8.5%+13.5% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureHUMCNCELVSPY
Volatility, 1Y 48.0%47.4%36.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 52.9%47.2%39.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.580.290.29 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.942.200.75 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -70.9%-74.1%-51.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -2.5%-1.4%-1.3% -2.5%
52-week high $433.45$71.21$445.45 $779.14
52-week low $163.67$31.80$280.74 $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.

MultipleHUMCNCELV
P/E now vs peer median 39.7xmedian 24.5x -6.8xmedian 24.5x 18.5xmedian 24.5x
P/S now vs peer median 0.3xmedian 0.3x 0.2xmedian 0.3x 0.5xmedian 0.3x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 11.9xmedian 14.4x -5.4xmedian 14.4x -0.6xmedian 14.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 26.0xmedian 15.8x 3.9xmedian 15.8x 14.6xmedian 15.8x
P/B now vs peer median 2.6xmedian 2.5x 1.5xmedian 2.5x 2.1xmedian 2.5x
PEG now vs peer median -1.48median 1.35 0.11median 1.35 -7.93median 1.35

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 monthsHUMCNCELV
Revenue $145.68B $202.94B $201.83B
Gross profit $19.89B $43.22B $53.35B
Operating income $2.71B -$5.64B -$142.23B
Net income $1.29B -$5.10B $5.13B
Free cash flow $1.95B $8.95B $6.51B
EPS (diluted) $10.56 $-10.25 $23.62
Cash & equivalents $6.89B $24.15B $10.35B
Total debt $54.48B $67.64B $30.76B
Shares (diluted) 121.14M 497.64M 217.60M
Enterprise value -$37.87B -$56.86B -$49.15B

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
MetricHUMCNCELV
P/E 39.7x -6.8x 18.5x
P/FCF 26.0x 3.9x 14.6x
P/Operating cash flow 20.0x 3.6x 12.5x
P/S 0.3x 0.2x 0.5x
P/B 2.6x 1.5x 2.1x
P/Tangible book 2.6x 1.9x 2.8x
EV/EBITDA 11.9x -5.4x -0.6x
EV/EBIT 15.3x -4.2x -0.6x
EV/Revenue 0.3x 0.1x 0.4x
EV/FCF 21.3x 2.6x 13.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 16.3x 2.4x 11.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -1.48 0.11 -7.93

Growth

14 metrics
MetricHUMCNCELV
Revenue growth (1Y) 18.3% 13.9% 3.6%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 13.8% 11.1% 6.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 7.5% 11.2% 4.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 3.6% 9.7% 5.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) -17.9% -394.4% -4.2%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -15.3% -61.1% -7.2%
Net income growth (1Y) -18.3% -348.7% -7.4%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -27.4% -57.2% -5.2%
EPS growth (1Y) -19.1% -346.3% -4.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -26.9% -59.8% -2.3%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -13.4% 463.5% 54.6%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -42.3% 4.4% -7.2%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -20.1% 728.8% 72.9%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -45.6% 5.4% -7.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricHUMCNCELV
Gross margin 13.7% 21.3% 26.4%
EBITDA margin 2.4% -2.2% -69.7%
Operating margin 1.9% -2.8% -70.5%
Pretax margin 1.1% -2.3% 3.1%
Net margin 0.9% -2.5% 2.5%
FCF margin 1.3% 4.4% 3.2%
Operating cash flow margin 1.7% 4.8% 3.8%
Return on equity 6.8% -23.1% 11.4%
Return on assets 2.3% -6.2% 4.0%
Return on invested capital 6.7% -14.7% -153.2%
Return on capital employed 8.1% -13.6% -176.8%
Asset turnover 2.6x 2.5x 1.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.0x -1.9x 1.5x
Stock comp / revenue 0.2% 0.1% 0.1%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricHUMCNCELV
Debt / assets 25.5% 19.4% 24.1%
Debt / equity 0.8x 0.7x 0.7x
Net debt / EBITDA -2.7x 2.5x 0.0x
Debt / FCF 7.5x 1.8x 4.7x
Liabilities / assets 66.3% 72.7% 65.0%
Equity / assets 33.7% 27.3% 35.0%
Interest coverage 3.8x -8.6x -98.4x
Current ratio 1.7x 1.1x 1.5x
Quick ratio 1.3x 1.1x 1.2x
Cash ratio 1.0x 0.7x 0.8x
Altman Z-score 4.62 2.84 -0.79

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricHUMCNCELV
Dividend yield 0.6% – 1.6%
Net buyback yield 0.3% 0.0% 2.1%
Shareholder yield 0.9% 0.0% 3.7%
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.

ConsensusHUMCNCELV
Forward P/E 48.8xFY2026 13.9xFY2026 15.6xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $8.65FY2026 $5.04FY2026 $28.24FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -49.5%FY2026 +142.3%FY2026 -6.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +84.9% +11.5% +8.9%
Revenue, next fiscal year $166.66BFY2026 $202.22BFY2026 $208.75BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +28.5%FY2026 +3.8%FY2026 +5.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +7.7% -0.2% -0.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersHUMCNCELV
Held by institutions 98.6% 97.9% 91.8%
Institutions holding 927 999 1,610
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.7% +2.1% +1.7%
Institutions buying 558 568 859
Institutions selling 266 334 540
Buyers to sellers 2.10 1.70 1.59

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.

HUMCNCELV
HUM 1.00 0.49 0.57
CNC 0.49 1.00 0.59
ELV 0.57 0.59 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, HUM, CNC and ELV?

Elevance Health (ELV) is the largest by market capitalisation: Humana (HUM) $49.99B, Centene (CNC) $33.50B, Elevance Health (ELV) $93.43B.

Which stock is cheaper, HUM, CNC and ELV?

Elevance Health (ELV) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Humana (HUM) 39.1x, Centene (CNC) -6.6x, Elevance Health (ELV) 18.2x). On next year's consensus earnings, Centene (CNC) is cheapest (Humana (HUM) 48.8x, Centene (CNC) 13.9x, Elevance Health (ELV) 15.6x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Humana (HUM) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Humana (HUM) +18.3%, Centene (CNC) +13.9%, Elevance Health (ELV) +3.6%.

Which company is more profitable?

Elevance Health (ELV) has the highest net margin (Humana (HUM) 0.9%, Centene (CNC) -2.5%, Elevance Health (ELV) 2.5%). On return on invested capital, Humana (HUM) leads (Humana (HUM) 6.7%, Centene (CNC) -14.7%, Elevance Health (ELV) -153.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Centene (CNC) returned the most: Humana (HUM) +45.0%, Centene (CNC) +104.2%, Elevance Health (ELV) +27.0%. Over five years, Elevance Health (ELV) compounded fastest (Humana (HUM) -1.8%/yr, Centene (CNC) +0.3%/yr, Elevance Health (ELV) +0.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Elevance Health (ELV) has been the steadiest (Humana (HUM) 48.0%, Centene (CNC) 47.4%, Elevance Health (ELV) 36.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, HUM, CNC and ELV?

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 6. 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.