In the latest close session, Cardinal Health (CAH) was down 1.21% at $163.40. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.22%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.08%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.51%.
Shares of the prescription drug distributor witnessed a gain of 8.47% over the previous month, beating the performance of the Medical sector with its loss of 0%, and the S&P 500's gain of 0.45%.
The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Cardinal Health in its forthcoming earnings report. The company is forecasted to report an EPS of $2, showcasing a 8.7% upward movement from the corresponding quarter of the prior year. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $60.7 billion, up 1.38% from the year-ago period.
Regarding the entire year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates forecast earnings of $8.16 per share and revenue of $223.11 billion, indicating changes of +8.37% and -1.71%, respectively, compared to the previous year.
Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for Cardinal Health. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the business outlook.
Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. 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, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.93% higher. Right now, Cardinal Health possesses a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Looking at valuation, Cardinal Health is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 20.27. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 17.24, which means Cardinal Health is trading at a premium to the group.
It's also important to note that CAH currently trades at a PEG ratio of 1.85. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Medical - Dental Supplies industry held an average PEG ratio of 1.71.
The Medical - Dental Supplies industry is part of the Medical sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 30, putting it in the top 13% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in 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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Cardinal Health, Inc. (CAH): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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