Agilon Health (NYSE:AGL) vs. Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) Head to Head Contrast

Agilon Health (NYSE:AGL) and Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) are both medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

89.2% of Elevance Health shares are held by institutional investors. 2.5% of Agilon Health shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Elevance Health shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Agilon Health	$5.82 billion	0.37	-$391.35 million	($21.56)	-6.00
Elevance Health	$199.12 billion	0.41	$5.66 billion	$22.50	16.56

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

Dividends

Agilon Health pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Elevance Health pays an annual dividend of $6.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Agilon Health pays out -8.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Elevance Health pays out 30.6% 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. Elevance Health has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Elevance Health is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Risk & Volatility

Agilon Health has a beta of 2.98, indicating that its share price is 198% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Elevance Health has a beta of 0.67, indicating that its share price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Agilon Health and Elevance Health, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Agilon Health	2	7	5	0	2.21
Elevance Health	0	9	15	0	2.62

Agilon Health presently has a consensus target price of $64.00, indicating a potential downside of 50.56%. Elevance Health has a consensus target price of $440.90, indicating a potential upside of 18.31%. Given Elevance Health’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Elevance Health is more favorable than Agilon Health.

Profitability

This table compares Agilon Health and Elevance Health’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Agilon Health	-6.09%	-146.03%	-24.55%
Elevance Health	2.47%	14.64%	5.22%

Summary

Elevance Health beats Agilon Health on 14 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Agilon Health

agilon health, inc. provides healthcare services for seniors through primary care physicians in the communities of the United States. It offers a platform that manages the total healthcare needs of the patients by subscription-like per-member per-month. The company was formerly known as Agilon Health Topco, Inc. and changed its name to agilon health, inc. in March 2021. agilon health, inc. was founded in 2016 and is based in Austin, Texas.

About Elevance Health

Elevance Health, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a health benefits company in the United States. The company operates through four segments: Health Benefits, CarelonRx, Carelon Services, and Corporate & Other. It offers a variety of health plans and services to program members; health products; an array of fee-based administrative managed care services; and specialty and other insurance products and services, such as stop loss, dental, vision, life, disability, and supplemental health insurance benefits. The company operates in the pharmacy services business; and markets and offers pharmacy services, including pharmacy benefit management, as well as home delivery and specialty pharmacies, claims adjudication, formulary management, pharmacy networks, rebate administration, a prescription drug database, and member services. In addition, it provides healthcare-related services and capabilities, including utilization management, behavioral health, integrated care delivery, palliative care, payment integrity services, subrogation services, and health and wellness programs, as well as services related to data management, information technology, and business operations. Further, the company is involved in the National Government Services business. The company provides its services under the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Wellpoint, and Carelon brand names. The company was formerly known as Anthem, Inc. and changed its name to Elevance Health, Inc. in June 2022. Elevance Health, Inc. was incorporated in 2001 and is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana.