Shares of VCA Inc WOOF scaled a new 52-week high of $65.92 on Jun 2, which translates into an impressive one-year return of roughly 27.5%, significantly higher than the S&P 500 return of 0.45%.
Yesterday’s rally reflects VCA’s impressive first-quarter fiscal 2017 results as well as the closing of the acquisition of a majority stake in Companion Animal Practices, North America (CAPNA).
This Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock has a market cap of around $5.26 billion while average volume of shares traded over the last three months is roughly 649.4K.
Q1 Results
VCA reported adjusted earnings of 66 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a nickel and surged 32% from the year-ago quarter. The upside was driven by revenue growth of 12.8%, which totaled $563.4 million.
VCA also raised its full-year 2016 guidance. The company now expect revenues of $2.41 billion, up from earlier guided figure of $2.39 billion. Adjusted earnings are expected to be $2.92 per share, up from the earlier provided figure of $2.82.
Meanwhile, in early May, VCA closed its previously announced acquisition of an 80% ownership interest in CAPNA, which operates a network of 56 free standing animal hospitals. With the addition of CAPNA’s network of hospitals, VCA now owns, operates or manages 762 animal hospitals throughout the United States and Canada.
The completion of the deal will add 3 to 4 cents of earnings to the full-year 2016 guidance.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for full-year 2016 and 2017 remained steady at $2.92 and $3.25, respectively, over the last 7 days.
Other Stocks to Consider
Other favorably ranked stocks in the same space are AMN Healthcare AHS, Air Methods AIRM and Halyard Health HYH. All the three stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
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