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Cardinal Health (CAH) Beats Stock Market Upswing: What Investors Need to Know

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In the latest market close, Cardinal Health (CAH - Free Report) reached $99.52, with a +1.18% movement compared to the previous day. The stock exceeded the S&P 500, which registered a gain of 1.04% for the day. Elsewhere, the Dow saw an upswing of 0.76%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq appreciated by 1.03%.

The prescription drug distributor's shares have seen an increase of 1.53% over the last month, surpassing the Medical sector's gain of 0.21% and the S&P 500's loss of 6.74%.

The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Cardinal Health in its forthcoming earnings report. The company is scheduled to release its earnings on August 14, 2024. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.72, up 10.97% from the prior-year quarter. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $58.72 billion, indicating a 9.86% growth compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Cardinal Health. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the company's business health and profitability.

Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. 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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 0.03% downward. At present, Cardinal Health boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Digging into valuation, Cardinal Health currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 13.03. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 18.7, so one might conclude that Cardinal Health is trading at a discount comparatively.

Meanwhile, CAH's PEG ratio is currently 1.08. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Medical - Dental Supplies industry held an average PEG ratio of 1.93.

The Medical - Dental Supplies industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 203, finds itself in the bottom 20% echelons of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the strength of our separate industry groups by calculating the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks contained within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Don't forget to use Zacks.com to keep track of all these stock-moving metrics, and others, in the upcoming trading sessions.


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