In the latest trading session, Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) closed at $59.27, marking a -0.55% move from the previous day. This move was narrower than the S&P 500’s daily loss of 0.86%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.96%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 1.13%.
Coming into today, shares of the largest U.S. drugstore chain had gained 8.8% in the past month. In that same time, the Retail-Wholesale sector gained 2.75%, while the S&P 500 gained 3.66%.
WBA will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. On that day, WBA is projected to report earnings of $1.39 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 4.79%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $34.59 billion, up 2.36% from the year-ago period.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $5.93 per share and revenue of $139.86 billion. These totals would mark changes of -1% and +2.19%, respectively, from last year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for WBA should also be noted by investors. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company’s business outlook.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.1% lower within the past month. WBA currently has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).
Looking at its valuation, WBA is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 10.04. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 10.72, which means WBA is trading at a discount to the group.
We can also see that WBA currently has a PEG ratio of 1.49. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock’s expected earnings growth rate. Retail – Pharmacies and Drug Stores stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.49 based on yesterday’s closing prices.
The Retail – Pharmacies and Drug Stores industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 165, putting it in the bottom 36% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.
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