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Cardinal Health (CAH) Stock Moves -1.22%: What You Should Know

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Cardinal Health (CAH - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $50.07, moving -1.22% from the previous trading session. This change was narrower than the S&P 500's 2.2% loss on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 1.86%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 1.44%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the prescription drug distributor had gained 6.13% over the past month. This has lagged the Medical sector's gain of 6.38% and outpaced the S&P 500's gain of 5.45% in that time.

CAH will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. On that day, CAH is projected to report earnings of $1.46 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 8.18%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $37.02 billion, up 5.08% from the prior-year quarter.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $5.38 per share and revenue of $153.05 billion, which would represent changes of +1.89% and +5.16%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for CAH. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. 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, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.27% higher. CAH currently has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Digging into valuation, CAH currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 9.42. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 21.32.

Investors should also note that CAH has a PEG ratio of 2.21 right now. 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. The Medical - Dental Supplies industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 2.19 as of yesterday's close.

The Medical - Dental Supplies industry is part of the Medical sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 70, putting it in the top 28% 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.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.


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