Anthem closed at $249.91 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.6% move from the prior day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 3.43%. At the same time, the Dow added 3.29%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 4.26%.
Coming into today, shares of the health insurer had lost 13.57% in the past month. In that same time, the Medical sector lost 11.69%, while the S&P 500 lost 12.15%.
Investors will be hoping for strength from ANTM as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be January 30, 2019. In that report, analysts expect ANTM to post earnings of $2.21 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 71.32%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $23.33 billion, up 3.94% from the year-ago period.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for ANTM. 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.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
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. ANTM is holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) right now.
In terms of valuation, ANTM is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 14.12. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 13.61.
Also, we should mention that ANTM has a PEG ratio of 1.08. 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. Medical - HMOs stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.05 based on yesterday's closing prices.
The Medical - HMOs industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 63, which puts it in the top 25% 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.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.
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Anthem (ANTM) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know
Anthem closed at $249.91 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.6% move from the prior day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 3.43%. At the same time, the Dow added 3.29%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 4.26%.
Coming into today, shares of the health insurer had lost 13.57% in the past month. In that same time, the Medical sector lost 11.69%, while the S&P 500 lost 12.15%.
Investors will be hoping for strength from ANTM as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be January 30, 2019. In that report, analysts expect ANTM to post earnings of $2.21 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 71.32%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $23.33 billion, up 3.94% from the year-ago period.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for ANTM. 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.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
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. ANTM is holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) right now.
In terms of valuation, ANTM is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 14.12. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 13.61.
Also, we should mention that ANTM has a PEG ratio of 1.08. 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. Medical - HMOs stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.05 based on yesterday's closing prices.
The Medical - HMOs industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 63, which puts it in the top 25% 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.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.