Cigna (CI) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know
The latest trading session saw Cigna (CI) ending at $305.03, denoting a +0.98% adjustment from its last day's close. The stock outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a daily gain of 0.22%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.36%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.32%.
Heading into today, shares of the health insurer had gained 1.33% over the past month, lagging the Medical sector's gain of 2.3% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.61% in that time.
The upcoming earnings release of Cigna will be of great interest to investors. The company's earnings report is expected on February 2, 2024. On that day, Cigna is projected to report earnings of $6.52 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 31.45%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $48.85 billion, up 6.8% from the year-ago period.
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 such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.
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 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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 0.4% downward. Cigna currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
With respect to valuation, Cigna is currently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 10.69. This indicates a discount in contrast to its industry's Forward P/E of 12.98.
Investors should also note that CI has a PEG ratio of 0.96 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. The Medical - HMOs industry had an average PEG ratio of 0.97 as trading concluded yesterday.
The Medical - HMOs industry is part of the Medical sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 56, placing it within the top 23% of over 250 industries.
The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these 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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Cigna Group (CI) : Free Stock Analysis Report
