Cigna (CI) Increases Yet Falls Behind Market: What Investors Need to Know
Cigna (CI) ended the recent trading session at $298.88, demonstrating a +0.36% swing from the preceding day's closing price. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.76% gain on the day. On the other hand, the Dow registered a gain of 0.59%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq increased by 1.12%.
Heading into today, shares of the health insurer had lost 0.54% over the past month, lagging the Medical sector's gain of 1.57% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.5% in that time.
Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Cigna in its upcoming release. The company plans to announce its earnings on February 2, 2024. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $6.52, indicating a 31.45% growth compared to the equivalent quarter last year. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $48.82 billion, showing a 6.73% escalation compared to the year-ago quarter.
Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for Cigna. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To capitalize on this, we've crafted the Zacks Rank, a unique model that incorporates these estimate changes and offers a practical rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, which varies between #1 (Strong Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), carries an impressive track record of exceeding expectations, confirmed by external audits, with stocks at #1 delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.34% lower within the past month. Right now, Cigna possesses a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Looking at its valuation, Cigna is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 10.54. This expresses a discount compared to the average Forward P/E of 12.19 of its industry.
Investors should also note that CI has a PEG ratio of 0.94 right now. 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. Medical - HMOs stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 0.98 based on yesterday's closing prices.
The Medical - HMOs industry is part of the Medical sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 202, putting it in the bottom 20% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Ensure to harness Zacks.com to stay updated with all these stock-shifting metrics, among others, in the next trading sessions.
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Cigna Group (CI) : Free Stock Analysis Report
