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Rite Aid (RAD) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know

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Rite Aid closed at $8.44 in the latest trading session, marking a -1.97% move from the prior day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.63%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.53%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.54%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the drugstore chain had lost 21.8% over the past month. This has lagged the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 0.59% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.07% in that time.

RAD will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be December 19, 2019. On that day, RAD is projected to report earnings of $0.03 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 85%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $5.43 billion, down 0.41% from the year-ago period.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for RAD. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. 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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month. RAD is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

Investors should also note RAD's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 71.75. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 10.64.

The Retail - Pharmacies and Drug Stores industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 102, putting it in the top 40% 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.

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

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