Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) closed at $70.12 in the latest trading session, marking a -1.52% move from the prior day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.07%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.25%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.14%.

Coming into today, shares of the largest U.S. drugstore chain had lost 1.77% in the past month. In that same time, the Retail-Wholesale sector gained 4.26%, while the S&P 500 gained 6.28%.

Investors will be hoping for strength from WBA as it approaches its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.74, up 0.58% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $34.72 billion, up 5.16% from the year-ago period.

WBA's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $6.52 per share and revenue of $136.85 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +8.31% and +4.04%, respectively.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for WBA. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable 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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant. WBA currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Investors should also note WBA's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 10.92. This represents a no noticeable deviation compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 10.92.

Meanwhile, WBA's PEG ratio is currently 1.11. 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. WBA's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.01 as of yesterday's close.

The Retail - Pharmacies and Drug Stores industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 99, which puts it in the top 39% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. 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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