CVS Health (CVS) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, CVS Health (CVS) closed at $85.50, marking a +0.65% move from the previous day. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.47% gain on the day.

Heading into today, shares of the drugstore chain and pharmacy benefits manager had gained 1.88% over the past month, outpacing the Retail-Wholesale sector's loss of 2.49% and the S&P 500's loss of 0.12% in that time.

CVS will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $2, down 24.24% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $70.36 billion, up 7.68% from the prior-year quarter.

CVS's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $7.64 per share and revenue of $281.64 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +1.87% and +4.81%, respectively.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for CVS should also be noted by investors. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. 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. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.1% higher. CVS currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at its valuation, CVS is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 11.11. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 11.1, so we one might conclude that CVS is trading at a premium comparatively.

Investors should also note that CVS has a PEG ratio of 1.66 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 Retail - Pharmacies and Drug Stores was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.63 at yesterday's closing price.

The Retail - Pharmacies and Drug Stores industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 90, which puts it in the top 36% 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.

Make sure to utilize Zacks. Com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.


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