In the latest trading session, Abbott (ABT) closed at $82.66, marking a -0.24% move from the previous day. This change traded in line with S&P 500. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.3%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.58%.
Heading into today, shares of the maker of infant formula, medical devices and drugs had lost 1.61% over the past month, lagging the Medical sector’s gain of 1.15% and the S&P 500’s gain of 4.96% in that time.
Investors will be hoping for strength from ABT as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be October 16, 2019. In that report, analysts expect ABT to post earnings of $0.84 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 12%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $8.10 billion, up 5.81% from the year-ago period.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $3.24 per share and revenue of $31.93 billion. These totals would mark changes of +12.5% and +4.43%, respectively, from last year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for ABT. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company’s business outlook.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant. ABT is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Looking at its valuation, ABT is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 25.56. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 26.8, which means ABT is trading at a discount to the group.
Also, we should mention that ABT has a PEG ratio of 2.33. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company’s expected earnings growth rate. The Medical – Products industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 2.6 as of yesterday’s close.
The Medical – Products industry is part of the Medical sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 85, putting it in the top 34% 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.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
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