We recently published a list of 7 Cheap Blue Chip Stocks to Invest in Now. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) stands against other cheap blue chip stocks.

Should Investors Revisit the Idea of the S&P 500 Being a Low-Risk Investment?

The technology sector has been the highlight of the stock market. On September 23, Reuters reported that hedge funds bought US tech and media stocks at the fastest pace in the last 3 months, last week.

With the interest rates falling, industrial spending is expected to revive as the companies can now borrow at lower costs and upgrade their technology and other related products. These high borrowing trends within the businesses are expected to boost the earnings of the tech companies further.

However, as far as the consumer sentiment towards borrowing is concerned, it seems that the market demands more rate cuts before it starts borrowing. We discussed how the borrowing trends are expected to perform in 7 Cheap Beginner Stocks to Invest In. Here’s an excerpt from the article:

“The Federal Reserve has approved the interest rate cut of 50 basis points, which at least for the time being is turning out to be good for the stock market. The interest rate cut also means that businesses and consumers have received immediate relief, but is the public ready yet to jump out of their high inflation rate mindset?

According to a recent report by Reuters, even before the Fed announced a rate cut the financial markets had already begun making credit cheaper for consumers and businesses. Mortgage rates were slightly down, corporate bond yields were also cut, and day-to-day personal and auto loans were also eased. For instance, the average rate a person had to pay for a 30-year fixed home mortgage is 6% after decreasing 2 percentage points from a year ago. Moreover, as per Redfin, a real estate firm, the average median price of houses sold in the middle of September was $3,000 less than the all-time high prices in April and represented a 3% decrease year-over-year.  A recent survey shows that while inflation has come down significantly during recent times, the public mood is still distracted due to the past two years of high inflation.”

Turning back to how investors might revisit their idea of S&P being a low-risk investment. This idea was pitched by Bill Nygren, the Chief Investment Officer at Oakmark Funds in a recent CNBC interview. His approach reflects a strategic shift as to how investors might view the S&P 500 and mega-cap stocks in the current market situation. He pointed out that while the index has traditionally been viewed as a diversified index, in reality, it is just a bet on a few large technology companies. Currently, around half of the S&P 500 is dominated by some 25 large tech names, which essentially diminishes its original diversification.

Bill Nygren, emphasized the importance of having a more diversified portfolio beyond just mega-cap stocks. He believes that diversification of the portfolio provides better risk-adjusted returns compared to relying solely on a few big companies. We have also discussed Matt Stucky, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management’s chief equities portfolio manager, talking about a similar strategy in 13 Most Undervalued Blue Chip Stocks To Buy According To Analysts.

The investment strategy that Nygren is vouching for suggests that the current market scenario where investors are favoring positive momentum stocks can lead to missed opportunities in other undervalued sectors such as financials and energy. He believes that the potential lucrativeness of the Tech sector has overcrowded the space creating opportunity in other sectors.

Why do we care about what hedge funds do? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Forward P/E Ratio: 14.49

Earnings Growth This Year: 12.40%  

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 73 

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) is a health insurance company in the United States. The company operates through its subsidiaries and manages Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in 14 states with licenses to sell health insurance throughout the country. It offers various health plans for corporate groups and individuals including employer-sponsored plans, Medicare, and Medicaid.

The strategic moat of the company originates from its healthy mix of revenue streams and unique growth drivers such as Pharmacy Benefit Management (PBM) and Specialty pharmacies. Moreover, Elevance Health, Inc.’s (NYSE:ELV) Health Benefit segment which comprises Anthem and Wellpoint reached approximately 46 million members contributing more than $13.3 billion during the second quarter of 2024.

The second quarter earnings demonstrate the company’s ability to generate revenue from its product mix. The overall operating revenue of the company grew 2.2% year-over-year to reach $37.2 billion, with operating margins improving 20 base points during the same time.

Looking ahead, management remains focused on optimizing its Health Benefits program further to attain its pre-pandemic margins back. The reaffirmed adjusted diluted EPS of at least $37.2 reflects a 12% gain over the previous year.

It is one of the cheap blue chip stocks to invest in now. ELV is trading at 14 times its forward earnings with analysts expecting its earnings to grow by 12% during the year.

Artisan Select Equity Fund stated the following regarding Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:

“The top contributors to performance for the quarter were Alphabet, Lam Research and Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV). Elevance shares rose 5% during the quarter. The business has been performing well and has delivered good profit growth this year, despite a flat top line. It has largely navigated the challenges related to Medicaid redeterminations, which have caused temporary volatility in membership and health care utilization levels. Its vertical integration strategy is gaining traction, with strong revenue and profit growth at its Carelon Services business. Elevance’s shares are trading at 13X earnings, which is a very attractive investment proposition for a durable business that expects long-term earnings growth of over 12%.”

Overall, ELV ranks 4th on our list of 7 cheap blue chip stocks to invest in now. While we acknowledge the potential of ELV to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for a promising AI stock that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: $30 Trillion Opportunity: 15 Best Humanoid Robot Stocks to Buy According to Morgan Stanley and Jim Cramer Says NVIDIA ‘Has Become A Wasteland’.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.