Brokerages Expect Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Will Post Earnings of $0.96 Per Share

Wall Street brokerages expect Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA – Get Rating) to post earnings of $0.96 per share for the current quarter, according to Zacks Investment Research. Six analysts have provided estimates for Walgreens Boots Alliance’s earnings, with the lowest EPS estimate coming in at $0.91 and the highest estimate coming in at $1.10. Walgreens Boots Alliance posted earnings per share of $1.51 during the same quarter last year, which would indicate a negative year-over-year growth rate of 36.4%. The company is expected to announce its next earnings report on Monday, January 1st.

According to Zacks, analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance will report full year earnings of $5.05 per share for the current fiscal year, with EPS estimates ranging from $4.99 to $5.10. For the next financial year, analysts expect that the business will post earnings of $4.74 per share, with EPS estimates ranging from $3.88 to $5.10. Zacks Investment Research’s EPS averages are an average based on a survey of sell-side research analysts that that provide coverage for Walgreens Boots Alliance.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 31st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.20. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a return on equity of 19.15% and a net margin of 4.62%. The business had revenue of $33.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. TheStreet cut Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, May 2nd. Cowen cut their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $55.00 to $50.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 12th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $52.00 to $46.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $52.00 to $46.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.71.

In other news, major shareholder Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. sold 6,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $900,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 52,854,867 shares in the company, valued at $7,928,230,050. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 17.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WBA. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 91,000 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $4,746,000 after buying an additional 1,600 shares during the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 19.8% in the fourth quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 5,142 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 849 shares during the last quarter. Frontier Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Frontier Wealth Management LLC now owns 24,854 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,296,000 after buying an additional 2,122 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter worth $990,000. Finally, NorthCoast Asset Management LLC increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 54.7% in the third quarter. NorthCoast Asset Management LLC now owns 65,486 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,083,000 after buying an additional 23,158 shares during the last quarter. 57.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

NASDAQ WBA traded up $0.39 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $43.55. 5,781,469 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,802,335. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.93. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 1-year low of $41.80 and a 1-year high of $55.96. The firm has a market cap of $37.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.01, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 20th will be issued a $0.4775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 19th. This represents a $1.91 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.39%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.34%.

About Walgreens Boots Alliance (Get Rating)

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc operates as a pharmacy-led health and beauty retail company. It operates through two segments, the United States and International. The United States segment sells prescription drugs and an assortment of retail products, including health, wellness, beauty, personal care, consumable, and general merchandise products through its retail drugstores.

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