Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) Earns “Buy” Rating from Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus reiterated their buy rating on shares of Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) in a research note released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a $20.00 price objective on the stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Elanco Animal Health from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $17.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Elanco Animal Health from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Elanco Animal Health from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $17.29.

Elanco Animal Health Stock Performance

NYSE:ELAN opened at $14.07 on Thursday. Elanco Animal Health has a fifty-two week low of $8.52 and a fifty-two week high of $18.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.93. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $13.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.95 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.31, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.40.

Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. Elanco Animal Health had a positive return on equity of 7.29% and a negative net margin of 27.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.18 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Elanco Animal Health will post 0.91 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Elanco Animal Health

In other news, Director Michael J. Harrington acquired 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $14.85 per share, with a total value of $51,975.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 81,094 shares in the company, valued at $1,204,245.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Jeffrey N. Simmons purchased 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $13.01 per share, for a total transaction of $1,301,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,886,450. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael J. Harrington acquired 3,500 shares of Elanco Animal Health stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $14.85 per share, with a total value of $51,975.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 81,094 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,204,245.90. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its position in Elanco Animal Health by 337.7% in the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,361 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Elanco Animal Health in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Elanco Animal Health in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp purchased a new position in Elanco Animal Health during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in Elanco Animal Health during the second quarter worth approximately $40,000. 97.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Elanco Animal Health

Elanco Animal Health Incorporated, an animal health company, innovates, develops, manufactures, and markets products for pets and farm animals. It offers pet health disease prevention products, such as parasiticide and vaccine products that protect pets from worms, fleas, and ticks under the Seresto, Advantage, Advantix, and Advocate brands; pet health therapeutics for pain, osteoarthritis, ear infections, cardiovascular, and dermatology indications in canines and felines under the Galliprant and Claro brands; vaccines, antibiotics, parasiticides, and other products for use in poultry and aquaculture production, as well as nutritional health products, including enzymes, probiotics, and prebiotics; and a range of vaccines, antibiotics, implants, parasiticides, and other products used in ruminant and swine production under the Rumensin and Baytril brands.