Cigna (CI) Surpasses Market Returns: Some Facts Worth Knowing
Cigna (CI) closed the latest trading day at $363.34, indicating a +1.57% change from the previous session's end. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.86% gain on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow saw an upswing of 1.22%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq appreciated by 0.51%.
Heading into today, shares of the health insurer had gained 4.99% over the past month, outpacing the Medical sector's loss of 0.63% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.84% in that time.
Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Cigna in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $6.16, indicating a 13.86% growth compared to the equivalent quarter last year. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $56.68 billion, showing a 21.96% escalation compared to the year-ago quarter.
Regarding the entire year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates forecast earnings of $28.35 per share and revenue of $235.12 billion, indicating changes of +12.99% and +20.37%, respectively, compared to the previous year.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Cigna. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. 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 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, 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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.02% higher. Right now, Cigna possesses a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Looking at valuation, Cigna is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 12.62. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 17.69, so one might conclude that Cigna is trading at a discount comparatively.
It is also worth noting that CI currently has a PEG ratio of 1.1. The PEG ratio is akin to the commonly utilized P/E ratio, but this measure also incorporates the company's anticipated earnings growth rate. The Medical - HMOs was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.15 at yesterday's closing price.
The Medical - HMOs industry is part of the Medical sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 195, placing it within the bottom 23% of over 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.
Remember to apply Zacks.com to follow these and more stock-moving metrics during the upcoming trading sessions.
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Cigna Group (CI) : Free Stock Analysis Report
