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Cardinal Health (CAH) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know

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Cardinal Health (CAH - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $51.68, moving -0.98% from the previous trading session. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.5%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.3%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.95%.

Heading into today, shares of the prescription drug distributor had lost 6.42% over the past month, lagging the Medical sector's loss of 1.24% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.89% in that time.

CAH will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.89, down 19.82% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $37.04 billion, down 0.83% from the year-ago period.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for CAH. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about 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.

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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant. CAH is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that CAH has a Forward P/E ratio of 9.84 right now. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 31.98.

Meanwhile, CAH's PEG ratio is currently 2.26. 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 Medical - Dental Supplies industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 3.17 as of yesterday's close.

The Medical - Dental Supplies industry is part of the Medical sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 96, putting it in the top 38% 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 CAH in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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