Abbott (ABT) Beats Market Returns: Some Facts to Consider

Abbott (ABT) closed the most recent trading day at $105.49, up 0.18% from the previous trading session. The stock’s change was greater than the S&P 500’s 0.09% daily gain. Meanwhile, the Dow saw a 0.1% decline and the tech-dominated Nasdaq saw a 0.00 gain. .16%.

Shares of the maker of infant formula, medical devices and drugs rose 1.3% over the past month, lagging the medical sector’s gain of 2.3% and the S&P 500’s gain of 2.3%. .83%.

Analysts and investors will be closely watching Abbott’s performance when it next releases its earnings. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.10, an increase of 1.85% from the year-ago quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate calls for revenue to come in at $10.35 billion, an increase of 3.78% from the year-ago quarter.

For the full year, Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings per share of $4.62 and revenue of $41.66 billion, which would represent changes of +4.05% and +3.86%, respectively, compared to the previous year.

Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for Abbott. Such recent changes usually signify a changing landscape of short-term business trends. With this in mind, we can view positive estimate revisions as a sign of optimism about the company’s business outlook.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to stock movements near the team. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model that takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an admirable, independently audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks contributing an average annual return of +25 % since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant over the past month. Currently, Abbott carries a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In terms of valuation, Abbott is currently trading at a forward P/E ratio of 22.8. Its industry sports an average forward P/E of 23.4, so one might conclude that Abbott is trading at a discount in comparison.

We can also see that ABT currently has a PEG ratio of 2.53. The PEG ratio is similar to the commonly used P/E ratio, but this metric also incorporates the company’s expected earnings growth rate. ABT’s industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.12 as of yesterday’s close.

The Medical – Products industry is part of the Medical sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 150, this industry ranks in the bottom 41% of all industries, or over 250.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our distinct industry groups by determining the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks comprising the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% of industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

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

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