Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know
Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) closed the most recent trading day at $43.55, moving +0.9% from the previous trading session. This change lagged the S&P 500's 2.39% gain on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 1.47%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.63%.
Coming into today, shares of the largest U.S. drugstore chain had lost 3.68% in the past month. In that same time, the Retail-Wholesale sector lost 16.38%, while the S&P 500 lost 10.51%.
Walgreens Boots Alliance will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.96, down 36.42% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $32.11 billion, down 5.64% from the year-ago period.
WBA's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $5.05 per share and revenue of $132.35 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of -4.9% and -3.66%, respectively.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Walgreens Boots Alliance. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable 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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.04% higher within the past month. Walgreens Boots Alliance is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Walgreens Boots Alliance has a Forward P/E ratio of 8.54 right now. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 8.54, so we one might conclude that Walgreens Boots Alliance is trading at a no noticeable deviation comparatively.
Investors should also note that WBA has a PEG ratio of 2.35 right now. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The Retail - Pharmacies and Drug Stores was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.95 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 246, which puts it in the bottom 3% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order 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.
To follow WBA in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.
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