In the latest trading session, Cigna (CI) closed at $299.45, marking a +0.02% move from the previous day. The stock's change was more than the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.28%. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.06%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.56%.
Coming into today, shares of the health insurer had gained 13.89% in the past month. In that same time, the Medical sector gained 6.56%, while the S&P 500 gained 5.24%.
The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Cigna in its upcoming release. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $6.52, indicating a 31.45% growth compared to the equivalent quarter last year. Alongside, our most recent consensus estimate is anticipating revenue of $48.85 billion, indicating a 6.79% upward movement from the same quarter last year.
Regarding the entire year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates forecast earnings of $24.82 per share and revenue of $192.94 billion, indicating changes of +6.66% and +6.81%, respectively, compared to the previous year.
Additionally, investors should keep an eye on any recent revisions to analyst forecasts for Cigna. 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.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To capitalize on this, we've crafted the Zacks Rank, a unique model that incorporates these estimate changes and offers a practical rating system.
The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month. Cigna is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
From a valuation perspective, Cigna is currently exchanging hands at a Forward P/E ratio of 12.06. This denotes a discount relative to the industry's average Forward P/E of 16.1.
Investors should also note that CI has a PEG ratio of 1.08 right now. 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. By the end of yesterday's trading, the Medical - HMOs industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.13.
The Medical - HMOs industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 162, finds itself in the bottom 36% 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.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.
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