CVS Health (CVS) closed at $105.06 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.84% move from the prior day. This change outpaced the S&P 500’s 0.14% loss on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.45%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.02%.

– Zacks

Coming into today, shares of the drugstore chain and pharmacy benefits manager had gained 5.39% in the past month. In that same time, the Retail-Wholesale sector lost 4.76%, while the S&P 500 lost 0.13%.

CVS Health will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be February 9, 2022. In that report, analysts expect CVS Health to post earnings of $1.60 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 23.08%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $75.06 billion, up 7.91% from the year-ago period.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for CVS Health. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company’s business and profitability.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.11% lower. CVS Health is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

In terms of valuation, CVS Health is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 12.67. This represents a premium compared to its industry’s average Forward P/E of 10.8.

Also, we should mention that CVS has a PEG ratio of 1.88. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock’s expected earnings growth rate. The Retail – Pharmacies and Drug Stores was holding an average PEG ratio of 2.14 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 199, which puts it in the bottom 22% 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.

Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.

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