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Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) Stock Declines While Market Improves: Some Information for Investors

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Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA - Free Report) closed at $15.92 in the latest trading session, marking a -1.85% move from the prior day. The stock's change was less than the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.11%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.3%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.56%.

The largest U.S. drugstore chain's shares have seen a decrease of 8.93% over the last month, not keeping up with the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 3.26% and the S&P 500's gain of 5.06%.

Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Walgreens Boots Alliance in its upcoming release. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.82, down 18% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $36 billion, indicating a 1.64% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

For the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $3.22 per share and a revenue of $145.94 billion, representing changes of -19.1% and +4.93%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for Walgreens Boots Alliance. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the company's business health and profitability.

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, spanning from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), boasts an impressive track record of outperformance, audited externally, with #1 ranked stocks yielding an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.34% lower. As of now, Walgreens Boots Alliance holds a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).

Looking at its valuation, Walgreens Boots Alliance is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 5.04. This signifies a discount in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 6.98 for its industry.

One should further note that WBA currently holds a PEG ratio of 1.01. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The Retail - Pharmacies and Drug Stores industry had an average PEG ratio of 0.78 as trading concluded yesterday.

The Retail - Pharmacies and Drug Stores industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 239, finds itself in the bottom 6% echelons 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.

Keep in mind to rely on Zacks.com to watch all these stock-impacting metrics, and more, in the succeeding trading sessions.


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