Latest news with #DavidMacDonald
CTV News
25-07-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Report: up to 24K federal public service jobs could be cut
Ottawa Watch David MacDonald is a senior economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. He discusses how the federal job cuts could affect the economy.
Business Insider
17-07-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
‘Time to Trust the Long-Term?' Analysts Maintain Buy on UnitedHealth Stock (UNH) Despite Price Target Cuts
UnitedHealth Group (UNH) is once again under scrutiny by Wall Street. Two analysts, David MacDonald from Truist Securities and Whit Mayo from Leerink Partners, lowered their price targets ahead of the company's Q2 earnings report, scheduled for July 29. This reflects growing concerns about near-term margin pressures and sector-wide volatility. Elevate Your Investing Strategy: Take advantage of TipRanks Premium at 50% off! Unlock powerful investing tools, advanced data, and expert analyst insights to help you invest with confidence. Make smarter investment decisions with TipRanks' Smart Investor Picks, delivered to your inbox every week. Nevertheless, both analysts maintain a Buy rating on UNH stock, citing confidence in long-term prospects. Truist Lowers Target but Sees Stability Ahead MacDonald lowered his price target on UnitedHealth to $345 from $360. The analyst expects Q2 results to show a mixed picture across the Healthcare sector, with some companies doing better than others depending on how they manage patient usage and costs. Despite these short-term pressures, he is optimistic about the long-term outlook due to strong demand for healthcare services. Also, the Reconciliation Bill has made the rules and regulations clearer, which could help stabilize the company's business going forward. Leerink Cuts Target but Projects Recovery by 2027 Leerink Partners' Mayo lowered the price target from $355 to $340, citing fading investor expectations as people wait for the company to update its 2025 financial guidance. He believes earnings in the $18–$19 per share range could ease concerns about shrinking margins. On the positive side, the analyst sees this as the start of a long-term recovery. He expects profit margins to improve gradually over the next few years, with stronger growth likely starting in 2027, once the company finishes switching out of its current Medicare risk model. Is UNH a Good Buy Right Now? Turning to Wall Street, UNH stock has a Moderate Buy consensus rating based on 18 Buys, seven Holds, and one Sell assigned in the last three months. At $357.14, the average UnitedHealth stock price target implies a 21.75% upside potential.
Yahoo
16-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Truist Lowers Elevance Health (ELV) to $500, Keeps Buy Rating
Elevance Health Inc. (NYSE:ELV) is one of the 8 Best Inexpensive Stocks to Buy Right Now. On June 9, Truist analyst David MacDonald slightly reduced the firm's price target on Elevance Health from $510 to $500, while maintaining a Buy rating on the shares. Despite the adjustment, the analyst remains positive on Elevance Health's substantial scale and local market share. In Q1 2025, the company posted adjusted diluted EPS of $11.97, which showed over 10% year-over-year growth. For the full year, Elevance Health provided adjusted EPS guidance of $34.15 to $34.85. The company expanded its value-based oncology care model to Medicare Advantage in this quarter, following its success in the commercial sector. Elevance Health maintained strong retention rates in Medicare Advantage, supporting both margin and membership sustainability. A medical professional working at a computer, utilizing the company's digital solutions to improve care quality for consumers. Carelon Services also experienced growth and broadened relationships with external payers and launched new contracts in post-acute and behavioral health. The company's acquisition of CareBridge further enhanced capabilities in home and community-based services and contributed to a reduction in ER visits and institutional stays. However, Elevance Health faced elevated cost trends in its Medicaid business. Elevance Health Inc. (NYSE:ELV) is a health benefits company in the US. It operates through 4 segments: Health Benefits, CarelonRx, Carelon Services, and Corporate & Other. The company was formerly known as Anthem Inc. and changed its name to Elevance Health Inc. in June 2022. While we acknowledge the potential of ELV as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the . READ NEXT: and . Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Sign in to access your portfolio
CTV News
04-06-2025
- Business
- CTV News
‘The perfect trifecta for buyers': Bank of Canada holds key rate at 2.75%
A rate announcement to come Tuesday morning is expected to declare the Bank of Canada will keep its key rate at 2.75% amid Trump's erratic global trade war. The Bank of Canada has announced it's leaving its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 2.75 per cent. The decision was largely based on economic uncertainty created by U.S. President Donald Trump's global trade war. 'Uncertainty remains high. The Canadian economy is softer, but not sharply weaker, and we've seen some firmness in recent inflation data,' said Tiff Macklem, BoC governor. Macklem says there was some unexpected firmness in recent inflation data, but the decision was made to hold the rate steady 'Against this backdrop, we decided to hold the policy rate unchanged as we continue to gain more information on U.S. trade policy and its impacts,' said Macklem. The central bank says it will continue to assess the timing and strength of both the downward pressures on inflation from a weaker economy and the upward pressures from higher costs. 'We are certainly starting to see interest rates bite for consumers, where we see increases in the number of consumers unable to make their payments, skipping payments on credit cards and car loans, as well as getting into difficulty in terms of bankruptcy,' said David MacDonald, a Senior Economist for the Canadian Centre of Policy Colin Mang says he believes the BoC's decision to take a wait-and-see approach was the right move.'There's a lot of concern around many of the goods that we trade, particularly around grocery prices with retaliatory tariffs. Right now, the bank is just not in a very good situation to forecast where the Canadian economy is going to go over the next six months,' said Mang. Impact to Lower Mainland real estate market The economic uncertainty is also cooling the Lower Mainland's once red-hot housing market. Sales are the slowest they've been in a decade. 'Once or twice a decade, we get an opportunity like this, as a homebuyer, to go out there, look at a whole host of different properties, take your time in making an astute, thoughtful decision, and not be rushed, and also negotiate your terms,' said Adil Dinani, a spokesperson for Royal LePage. Although rates did not dip Wednesday, many mortgage brokers say now is the time to make a move. 'We're averaging a low four per cent for fixed and variable interest rates right now. So it is historically average interest rates at this time,' said Vik Sahi, a broker with Mortgages 4 You. 'You're seeing rates dip, you're seeing prices soften, and you're seeing your supply and your inventory increase. Meaning all three of those together is the perfect trifecta for buyers.' Sahi says uncertainty brings opportunity. 'There's still a lot of opportunity to make moves and refinance if you had a higher rate from 2023 or 2024, there's a lot of strategies that we could place that are going to save people a lot of money, even in this market of uncertainty,' said widely expect there to be at least one more rate cut by the end of the year.
CTV News
04-06-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Bank of Canada holding interest rate steady at 2.75 per cent
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives senior economist David MacDonald explains what led to the Bank of Canada's decision.
