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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Disney, Kraft Heinz and CVS Health, Intercontinental Exchange and Ventas

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – September 13, 2017 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include Disney (NYSE: (DIS - Free Report) – Free Report), Kraft Heinz (Nasdaq: (KHC - Free Report) – Free Report) and CVS Health (NYSE: (CVS - Free Report) – Free Report), Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: (ICE - Free Report) – Free Report) and Ventas (NYSE: (VTR - Free Report) – Free Report).

Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free.

Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:

Top Research Reports on Disney, Kraft Heinz and CVS Health

The Zacks Research Daily presents the best research output of our analyst team. Today's Research Daily features new research reports on 16 major stocks, including Disney (NYSE: (DIS - Free Report) – Free Report), Kraft Heinz (Nasdaq: (KHC - Free Report) – Free Report) and CVS Health (NYSE: (CVS - Free Report) – Free Report). These research reports have been hand-picked from the roughly 70 reports published by our analyst team today.

You can see all of today’s research reports here >>>

Disney’s shares have underperformed the Zacks Media Conglomerates industry over the last three months, declining -7.9% vs. -6.2%, primarily due to ongoing concerns regarding ESPN’s future. Identical to its performances over the past few quarters, ESPN results disappointed in the third quarter yet again.

However, the Zacks analyst likes the company’s decision to terminate its distribution agreement with Netflix for subscription streaming and launch its own streaming services – one for Disney and Pixar brands and another for ESPN followers. Further, in an effort to attract online viewers, Disney which had earlier acquired 33% stake BAMTech announced its intention to acquire another 42% stake in the firm. Moreover, its Movies and Parks & Resorts businesses look promising. Disney also boasts of an impressive lineup of big budget movies up to 2018.

(You canread the full research report on Disney here >>>).

Shares of Kraft Heinz have declined -3.4% year to date, outperforming the Zacks Diversified Food industry which is down -6.3% during the same period. Strong brand portfolio, cost savings initiatives, innovation and marketing efforts raise growth prospects for the company. Though the company’s net sales have been relatively soft, cost savings have led to better results in the second quarter financial results.

The Zacks analyst stresses that soft spending by U.S. shoppers and shift in consumer preference toward natural and organic ingredients over packaged and processed food are hurting the company’s categories.

(You can read the full research report on Kraft Heinz here >>>).

CVS Health’s shares have outperformed the Zacks Drug Stores industry year to date gaining +3.5% vs. a decline of -1.4%. The Zacks analyst likes the company’s solid 2017 PBM selling season and is also confident about the company's 2018 selling season, which is already off to a strong start. Moreover, the Omnicare and Target Pharmacy buyouts should drive enterprise value significantly in the days ahead.

However, poor year-over-year Retail/LTC numbers along with margin debacle resulted in a dull earnings performance by the company in the quarter. Despite an unimpressive bottom-line scenario the company has raised the lower-end of its earnings outlook for 2017 raising investors’ optimism. (You can read the full research report on CVS Health here >>>).

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: (ICE - Free Report) – Free Report) and Ventas (NYSE: (VTR - Free Report) – Free Report).

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Strong Stocks that Should Be in the News

Many are little publicized and fly under the Wall Street radar. They're virtually unknown to the general public. Yet today's 220 Zacks Rank #1 "Strong Buys" were generated by the stock-picking system that has nearly tripled the market from 1988 through 2015. Its average gain has been a stellar +26% per year.See these high-potential stocks free >>.

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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performancefor information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.