With a $34.6 billion market value, Baxter International Inc (NYSE: ranks in the top 10% of its industry group, Health Care Equipment & Supplies, and in the top 10% of its sector group, Health Care, in market value. From the prospective of investment attractiveness, the stock's Portfolio Grader ranking places it 28 among the 163 companies in this industry group, putting in the top quartile; in the top decile of the sector with a ranking of 67 among the 782 companies in the sector, and number 574 in the nearly 5,000 company Portfolio Grader universe.
Portfolio Grader currently ranks BAX as a Buy. The approach to investing incorporated in this tool, developed by Louis Navellier, assesses and ranks approximately 5,000 stocks each week from a fundamental and quantitative perspective. The current Portfolio Grader recommendation on the shares has been in place for 10 months.
The Health Care sector is ranked number 10 among the 12 sectors in the Portfolio Grader universe putting it in the bottom quartile of all the GICS sectors. The Health Care Equipment & Supplies industry group is ranked 43 among the 69 industry groups within the GICS sectors, placing it below-average in terms of the Navellier scoring system.
BAX has attained above-average scores in 3 of the 8 fundamental areas analyzed by Portfolio Grader and average or below-average grades in 5 of the areas used in the ranking of company stocks.
The company's operational scores are a source of great concern with a ranking for sales growth, operating margin and earnings growth that are substantially below average. Scores for visibility of earnings are mixed, with a ranking for earnings revisions and earnings surprises that are better than average, while the score for earnings momentum is much worse than average. BAX's score for return on equity is appreciably better than its industry group average but its ranking for cash flow is below-average. Based on these fundamental scores, Baxter International places in the bottom quartile of the industry group.
Quantitatively, Portfolio Grader uses the Navellier Proprietary Quantitative Score to gauge BAX's shares from the angle of risk/reward. This exclusive scoring methodology takes into account the relative value of BAX's shares based on the current price of the shares relative to its peers, the market and risk associated with its industry and sector groups. Using this risk/reward calculation, the company currently scores well above-average in its industry group compared to its peers.
Louis Navellier's proprietary Portfolio Grader stock ranking system assesses roughly 5,000 companies every week based on a number of fundamental and quantitative measures. Stocks are given a letter grade based on their results, with A being 'strong buy' and F being 'strong sell'. Explore the tool .
Commentary provided by UpTick Data Technologies.
