Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Reaches New 1-Year Low at $8.36

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $8.36 and last traded at $8.49, with a volume of 1358168 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.53.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on WBA. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $10.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 28th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Bank of America dropped their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.73.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Down 1.9 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $10.16 and a 200 day moving average of $14.50.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 27th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $36.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.94 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 12.63% and a negative net margin of 3.99%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 2.86 EPS for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s payout ratio is presently -14.84%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 162.5% during the second quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 87.0% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,324 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,081 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 71.2% in the 2nd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 2,453 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 1,020 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

About Walgreens Boots Alliance

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc operates as a healthcare, pharmacy, and retail company in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and internationally. It operates through three segments: U.S. Retail Pharmacy, International, and U.S. Healthcare. The U.S. Retail Pharmacy segment engages in operation of the retail drugstores, health and wellness services, specialty, and home delivery pharmacy services, which offers health and wellness, beauty, personal care and consumables, and general merchandise.