Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know
Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) closed at $58.67 in the latest trading session, marking a -1.38% move from the prior day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.27% gain on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.66%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.28%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the largest U.S. drugstore chain had gained 14.24% over the past month. This has outpaced the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 4.73% and the S&P 500's gain of 4.34% in that time.
Investors will be hoping for strength from WBA as it approaches its next earnings release. On that day, WBA is projected to report earnings of $1.40 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 4.11%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $34.53 billion, up 2.18% from the year-ago period.
WBA's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $5.93 per share and revenue of $139.98 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of -1% and +2.28%, respectively.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for WBA. 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.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.1% higher within the past month. WBA is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Looking at its valuation, WBA is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 10.02. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 10.69.
Investors should also note that WBA has a PEG ratio of 1.48 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. Retail - Pharmacies and Drug Stores stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.48 based on yesterday's closing prices.
The Retail - Pharmacies and Drug Stores industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 101, putting it in the top 40% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our 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.
To follow WBA in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.
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