Weakness Seen in ICU Medical (ICUI) Estimates: Should You Stay Away? - Tale of the Tape
March 03 2014 - 8:59AM
Zacks
Similar to wise buying decisions, exiting certain
underperformers at the right time helps maximize portfolio returns.
Selling off losers can be difficult, but if both the share price
and estimates are falling, it could be time to get rid of the
security before more losses hit your portfolio.
One such stock that you may want to consider dropping is
ICU Medical, Inc. (ICUI) which has witnessed a
significant price decline in the past four weeks, and it has seen
negative earnings estimate revisions for the current quarter and
the current year. A Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) further
confirms weakness in ICUI.
A key reason for this move has been the negative trend in earnings
estimate revisions. For the full year, we have seen 3 estimates
moving down in the past 30 days, compared with no upward revisions.
This trend has caused the consensus estimate to trend lower, going
from $2.73 a share a month ago to its current level of a $1.29.
Also, for the current quarter, ICU Medical has seen 2 downward
estimate revisions versus no revisions in the opposite direction,
dragging the consensus estimate down to 34 cents a share from 58
cents over the past 30 days.
The stock also has seen some pretty dismal trading lately, as the
share price has dropped 10.7% in the past month.
So it may not be a good decision to keep this stock in your
portfolio anymore, at least if you don’t have a long time horizon
to wait.
If you are still interested in the health care sector, you may
instead consider some better-ranked stocks including
Covidien plc (COV), Stryker
Corporation (SYK) and SurModics, Inc.
(SRDX). All these stocks carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and may
be better selections at this time.
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COVIDIEN PLC (COV): Free Stock Analysis Report
ICU MEDICAL INC (ICUI): Free Stock Analysis Report
SURMODICS (SRDX): Free Stock Analysis Report
STRYKER CORP (SYK): Free Stock Analysis Report
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