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Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) Stock Moves -0.12%: What You Should Know

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Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $41.48, moving -0.12% from the previous trading session. This move was narrower than the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.44%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.62%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.5%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the largest U.S. drugstore chain had gained 1.86% over the past month. This has lagged the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 2.09% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.71% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from WBA as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be January 7, 2021. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.03, down 24.82% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $34.89 billion, up 1.59% from the year-ago period.

WBA's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $4.83 per share and revenue of $142.79 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +1.9% and +2.33%, respectively.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for WBA. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. 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 remained stagnant within the past month. WBA is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Investors should also note WBA's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 8.59. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 9.65, which means WBA is trading at a discount to the group.

Investors should also note that WBA has a PEG ratio of 1.72 right now. 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 industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.68 as of yesterday's close.

The Retail - Pharmacies and Drug Stores industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 75, putting it in the top 30% of all 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.

To follow WBA in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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