In the latest trading session, CVS Health (CVS) closed at $53.70, marking a +0.04% move from the previous day. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.12% loss on the day. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.04%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.32%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the drugstore chain and pharmacy benefits manager had gained 1.86% over the past month. This has lagged the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 4.56% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.31% in that time.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from CVS as it approaches its next earnings report date. On that day, CVS is projected to report earnings of $1.69 per share, which would represent no growth from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $62.63 billion, up 34.09% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $6.85 per share and revenue of $252.56 billion. These totals would mark changes of -3.25% and +30.12%, respectively, from last year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for CVS should also be noted by investors. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. 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. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

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 has moved 0.22% higher. CVS is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Investors should also note CVS's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 7.83. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 8.84.

Meanwhile, CVS'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. The Retail - Pharmacies and Drug Stores was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.08 at yesterday's closing price.

The Retail - Pharmacies and Drug Stores industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 225, which puts it in the bottom 13% of all 250+ industries.

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

Make sure to utilize Zacks. Com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.

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