Comparing Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) and Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX)

Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) and Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) are both large-cap healthcare companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Cigna Group and Quest Diagnostics, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cigna Group	0	8	15	0	2.65
Quest Diagnostics	0	6	3	1	2.50

Cigna Group presently has a consensus price target of $338.24, suggesting a potential upside of 10.99%. Quest Diagnostics has a consensus price target of $243.64, suggesting a potential upside of 2.03%. Given Cigna Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Cigna Group is more favorable than Quest Diagnostics.

Volatility & Risk

Cigna Group has a beta of 0.29, indicating that its share price is 71% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Quest Diagnostics has a beta of 0.54, indicating that its share price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Cigna Group pays an annual dividend of $6.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Quest Diagnostics pays an annual dividend of $3.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Cigna Group pays out 25.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Quest Diagnostics pays out 36.5% 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. Cigna Group has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years and Quest Diagnostics has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Cigna Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares Cigna Group and Quest Diagnostics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cigna Group	2.27%	19.75%	5.34%
Quest Diagnostics	9.18%	16.01%	7.27%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

87.0% of Cigna Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.1% of Quest Diagnostics shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of Cigna Group shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Quest Diagnostics shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Cigna Group and Quest Diagnostics”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cigna Group	$274.90 billion	0.29	$5.96 billion	$24.17	12.61
Quest Diagnostics	$11.04 billion	2.39	$992.00 million	$9.42	25.35

Cigna Group has higher revenue and earnings than Quest Diagnostics. Cigna Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Quest Diagnostics, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

About Cigna Group

The Cigna Group, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and related products and services in the United States. Its Evernorth Health Services segment provides a range of coordinated and point solution health services, including pharmacy benefits, home delivery pharmacy, specialty pharmacy, distribution, and care delivery and management solutions to health plans, employers, government organizations, and health care providers. The company's Cigna Healthcare segment offers medical, pharmacy, behavioral health, dental, and other products and services for insured and self-insured customers; Medicare Advantage, Medicare Supplement, and Medicare Part D plans for seniors, as well as individual health insurance plans; and health care coverage in its international markets, as well as health care benefits for mobile individuals and employees of multinational organizations. In addition, it offers permanent insurance contracts sold to corporations to provide coverage on the lives of certain employees for financing employer-paid future benefit obligations. The company distributes its products and services through insurance brokers and consultants; directly to employers, unions and other groups, or individuals; and private and public exchanges. The company was formerly known as Cigna Corporation and changed its name to The Cigna Group in February 2023. The Cigna Group was founded in 1792 and is headquartered in Bloomfield, Connecticut.

About Quest Diagnostics

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated provides diagnostic testing and services in the United States and internationally. The company develops and delivers diagnostic information services, such as routine, non-routine and advanced clinical testing, anatomic pathology testing, and other diagnostic information services. It offers diagnostic information services primarily under the Quest Diagnostics brand, as well as under the AmeriPath, Dermpath Diagnostics, ExamOne, and Quanum brands to physicians, hospitals, patients and consumers, health plans, government agencies, employers, retailers, pharmaceutical companies and insurers, and accountable care organizations through a network of laboratories, patient service centers, phlebotomists in physician offices, call centers and mobile phlebotomists, nurses, and other health and wellness professionals. The company also provides risk assessment services for the life insurance industry; and healthcare organizations and clinicians information technology solutions. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Secaucus, New Jersey.