CVS Health (CVS) closed at $87.60 in the latest trading session, marking a -1.4% move from the prior day. The stock fell short of the S&P 500, which registered a gain of 1.49% for the day. Elsewhere, the Dow saw an upswing of 0.71%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq appreciated by 2.26%.
Shares of the drugstore chain and pharmacy benefits manager witnessed a loss of 4.49% over the previous month, trailing the performance of the Medical sector with its loss of 1.14%, and the S&P 500's gain of 0.1%.
The upcoming earnings release of CVS Health will be of great interest to investors. The company is forecasted to report an EPS of $1.6, showcasing no movement from the corresponding quarter of the prior year. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $105.04 billion, up 2.11% from the year-ago period.
CVS's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $8.02 per share and revenue of $418.17 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +18.81% and +4.01%, respectively.
Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for CVS Health. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the business operations and its ability to generate profits.
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 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 last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has witnessed a 0.03% decrease. CVS Health is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Looking at valuation, CVS Health is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 11.07. This indicates a discount in contrast to its industry's Forward P/E of 17.31.
We can also see that CVS currently has a PEG ratio of 0.87. The PEG ratio is akin to the commonly utilized P/E ratio, but this measure also incorporates the company's anticipated earnings growth rate. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Medical Services industry held an average PEG ratio of 1.48.
The Medical Services industry is part of the Medical sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 104, placing it within the top 43% 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.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
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CVS Health Corporation (CVS): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).