Cardinal Health, Inc (CAH)

Current valuation: P/E 33.62x, Forward P/E 17.27x—the market is pricing in meaningful earnings improvement, but today’s trailing earnings power looks expensive versus what forward expectations assume.

PEG is 1.49, suggesting valuation is not egregious relative to expected growth; however it’s not a clear “deep value” setup either.

Sales multiples: P/S 0.22 and EV/Sales 0.25–0.24 (both low). This indicates the market is valuing CAH’s revenue cheaply—often a sign of either (a) margin compression risk, (b) cyclicality, or (c) expectations for earnings quality to lag revenue.

Book/earnings quality check: P/B is 11.66x (high). Combined with negative/low book value support (book/sh = -12.37 as provided), this suggests accounting equity isn’t a reliable “support” for valuation; price is being driven more by earnings/cash flow expectations than book value.

Cash flow: P/FCF is 12.51x and EV/EBITDA is 14.60x. These are more moderate than the trailing P/E, supporting the view that earnings are expected to normalize upward.

Bottom line on valuation: CAH screens as cheap on revenue, not cheap on earnings. For a growth/value hybrid investor, the forward P/E and PEG argue “not expensive if earnings rebound,” but the high trailing P/E warns against buying without confirmation of operating leverage.

Profitability ratios (as provided): ROA 0.49%, ROE 0.88 (format likely percent; treat as low-to-middling), and ROIC 12.70%. ROIC is the standout positive—suggesting the business can produce returns on invested capital even if accounting ROA is modest.

Margins: Gross margin 20.26%, Operating margin 7.24%, Profit margin 5.84%. This is consistent with a stable but not high-margin distribution model—expectation should be steady improvement rather than dramatic margin expansion.

Earnings quality/track record: EPS (ttm) 2.94, EPS this Y 2.94, EPS next Y 2.94 (flat as given). With EPS Y/Y (ttm) 11.41%, the market’s forward valuation assumes continued performance, but the “next year EPS” line being flat suggests limited growth visibility.

Earnings momentum: EPS Q/Q 0.24 and Sales Q/Q 0.24 (both appear very small/flat). That implies near-term execution is not accelerating strongly.

Surprise metric: EPS/Sales Surprise = -0.37% (negative as provided). This suggests recent beats may not be consistent.

Earnings and profitability conclusion: CAH has reasonable margins for the sector and a good ROIC, but the provided forward EPS path looks flat—so the investment case depends on whether margins/working-capital improve further.

Analyst growth indicators: PEG 1.49 (reasonable, not “high-growth cheap”).

Earnings growth (provided): EPS next 5Y is 11.66%—this is a positive growth signal for the medium term.

Past performance: EPS past 3/5Y shows 79.07% (as provided; likely aggregated growth), and Sales past 3/5Y 28.33%. That suggests history of improving earnings faster than revenue (or at least stronger earnings compounding).

Quarterly growth appears muted: EPS Q/Q 0.24 and Sales Q/Q 0.49 (near-flat). Growth may be more “steady/structural” than “accelerating.”

Sales growth: Sales Y/Y (ttm) 12.35% and EPS Y/Y (ttm) 11.59%. Top-line and EPS are growing at similar rates recently.

Growth conclusion: CAH’s growth profile looks like mid-single to low-double digit with the promise of low-to-mid teens medium-term EPS growth (per next 5Y). It’s more of a quality compounder than a high-growth story.

Liquidity: Quick ratio 0.67 and current ratio 2.65% (current ratio figure likely in error/format; Quick ratio indicates limited immediate liquidity). Interpreting carefully: CAH may rely on operational working capital efficiency typical for distributors.

Leverage: Debt/Eq 0.25 and LT Debt/Eq -30.26% (the negative LT figure likely reflects balance sheet nuance or data formatting issues). Net: debt burden is not screaming “high leverage” from the Debt/Eq line, but the inconsistencies reduce confidence.

Capital intensity and returns: ROIC 12.70% supports that the company can generate returns despite distributor economics.

Net conclusion on health: Based on ROIC and moderate Debt/Eq, CAH appears financially serviceable, but liquidity metrics are mixed/possibly misformatted—so confirm with cash flow and balance sheet in a deeper screen.

Insider ownership: 0.00% insider own (as provided). That typically reduces “insider-alignment” signals but is common for large distributors.

Institutional ownership: Inst Own 91.67%, with Inst Trans 0.00 (as provided). Very high institutional presence suggests CAH is widely held and should trade with institutional flows.

Interpretation: With minimal insider ownership and high institutions, the thesis relies more on fundamentals/earnings rather than insider signaling.

Trend vs moving averages: Price 247.18 vs SMA20 243.35, SMA50 243.35? (value shown 174/354 etc is messy), and SMA200 273.31 (from provided list). Net read: CAH is slightly above short-term averages but below longer-term (SMA200), implying the long-term trend has been weaker recently.

52-week range: 145.87 (low) to 258.30 (high). Current price 247.18 is near the upper part of the range—bullish positioning, but also closer to resistance (risk of pullback).

Beta 0.49: less volatile than the market—supports a steadier “value/quality” role in a portfolio.

Relative volume and volume: Rel volume 0.49 with current volume about 2.15M vs avg 6.39M—trading interest is not unusually elevated.

Performance: 1W -1.55%, 1M 66.83%, 3M 2.36%, 6M 58.72%, YTD 19.01%, 3Y 174.11%, 5Y 354.95%, 10Y 201.52% (per provided). This suggests a strong medium/long-term compounding phase, but there may be short-term digestion after a large run.

Volatility: provided volatility 3.70% and ATR (14) 2.97. ATR indicates typical daily movement is moderate; combined with beta 0.49, risk is relatively contained.

RSI (14) 91.67%: extremely overbought. This increases the probability of a near-term pullback or consolidation even if the medium-term trend remains positive.

Short interest: Short ratio 2.94 and short interest 3.70% (as provided). Not extremely high, but enough to contribute to volatility if price moves sharply.

Momentum/volatility conclusion: The stock shows strong performance but overbought conditions (very high RSI). For both value and growth entries, it’s prudent to wait for either (a) a pullback, or (b) confirmation that price sustains without further blow-off.