5-Star Stocks Poised to Pop: Walgreen
Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, drugstore giant Walgreen (NYS: WAG) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.
With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Walgreen's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.
Walgreen facts
Headquarters (Founded) | Deerfield, Ill. (1901) |
Market Cap | $33.74 billion |
Industry | Drug retail |
Trailing-12-Month Revenue | $71.09 billion |
Management | CEO Gregory Wasson (since 2009) CFO Wade Miquelon (since 2008) |
Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years) | 15% |
Cash/Debt | $2.65 billion / $2.4 billion |
Dividend Yield | 2.4% |
Competitors | Wal-Mart (NYS: WMT) CVS Caremark (NYS: CVS) Rite Aid (NYS: RAD) |
Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Motley Fool CAPS.
On CAPS, 95% of the 2,074 members who have rated Walgreen believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include All-Star rwpaules, who is ranked in the top 10% of our community, and JPAKolypse86.
Earlier this month, rwpaules tapped Walgreen as a particularly timely pick: "Defensive play for a shaky market."
In fact, Walgreen currently sports a debt-to-capital ratio of just 14%. That's lower than that of competitors Wal-Mart (44%), CVS (23%), and Rite Aid (158%).
CAPS member JPAKolypse86 elaborates on the bull case:
Walgreens hasn't missed a dividend payment since 1933. WAG has also consistently raised its dividend for 36 years in a row. ... Walgreens announced a new 3 and half year share repurchase program which will repurchase about $2billion worth of stock. This is 3rd repurchase program in 3 years.
Currently walgreens is also trading more than 10% off its [52-week high]. Buy and hold for 3 to 5 years.
What do you think about Walgreen, or any other stock for that matter? If you want to retire rich, you need to put together the best portfolio you can. Owning exceptional stocks is a surefire way to secure your financial future, and on Motley Fool CAPS, thousands of investors are working every day to find them. CAPS is 100% free, so get started!
Interested in another easy way to track Walgreen?Add it to your watchlist.
At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributor Brian Pacampara owns no position in any of the companies mentioned. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of and creating a diagonal call position in Wal-Mart. The Motley Fool owns shares of Wal-Mart. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days.We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Fool's disclosure policy always gets a perfect score.
Copyright © 1995 - 2011 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
