Cardinal Health (CAH) closed the most recent trading day at $165.61, moving +1.14% from the previous trading session. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.8%. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a rise of 0.94%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw an increase of 0.97%.
Shares of the prescription drug distributor witnessed a gain of 6.94% over the previous month, beating the performance of the Medical sector with its gain of 3.12%, and the S&P 500's gain of 5.12%.
Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Cardinal Health in its upcoming release. The company's upcoming EPS is projected at $2.02, signifying a 9.78% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $60.65 billion, up 1.31% from the year-ago period.
For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $8.18 per share and revenue of $223.07 billion, which would represent changes of +8.63% and -1.72%, respectively, from the prior year.
Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for Cardinal Health. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. Therefore, positive revisions in estimates convey analysts' confidence in the business performance and profit potential.
Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, running from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), holds an admirable track record of superior performance, independently audited, with #1 stocks contributing an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.99% higher. As of now, Cardinal Health holds a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Looking at valuation, Cardinal Health is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 20.03. This expresses a premium compared to the average Forward P/E of 17.14 of its industry.
We can also see that CAH currently has a PEG ratio of 1.83. 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. As the market closed yesterday, the Medical - Dental Supplies industry was having an average PEG ratio of 1.7.
The Medical - Dental Supplies industry is part of the Medical sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 26, positioning it in the top 11% of all 250+ industries.
The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
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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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