Patterson Companies Inc. (NASDAQ:PDCO) reported fourth-quarter fiscal 2017 adjusted earnings of 69 cents per share from continuing operations, which outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 64 cents. The figure, however, came lower than the year-ago quarterly figure of 77 cents.
Net sales from continuing operations dipped 0.62% from the year-ago quarter to $1.45 billion missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.47 billion.
Stock Performance
The price performance of the stock has been unfavorable over the last three months. Patterson Companies shed 1.24%, comparing unfavorably versus the Zacks classified Medical - Dental Supplies sub-industry’s gain of almost 5.46%.
Quarter Details
Coming to the Animal Health platform (58% of total sales), sales increased almost 6.0% on a year-over-year basis to $827.5 million. Sales of Consumable grew 5.1% year over year. However, the Other services and products on this platform witnessed a 5.8% year-over-year decline in sales.
Patterson Companies’ Dental platform (42% of total sales) sales fell 8.3% year over year to $607.3 million approximately. Consumable sales at the Dental platform dropped 4.3% year over year to $339.4 million, while sales from other services and products increased by 0.2%. Sales from dental equipment and software dipped 16.9%.
Financial Condition
Cash and cash equivalents were $94.9 million as of Apr 29, 2017 compared to $137.5 million as of Apr 30, 2016. In fiscal 2017, Patterson repurchased approximately 2.9 million shares for $125.4 million. This leaves approximately 13.6 million shares for repurchase under the current authorization, which expires in Mar 2018. The company also disbursed $25.0 million in cash dividends to shareholders in the fourth quarter and $95.9 million in cash dividends to shareholders in fiscal 2017.
Outlook
Patterson Companies affirmed its adjusted earnings in the range of $2.25–$2.40 per share for fiscal 2018. GAAP earnings are expected to be in the range of $1.90 to $2.05 per diluted share.
Zacks Rank & Key Picks
Patterson Companies currently has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
Better-ranked stocks in the broader medical sector are Luminex Corp. (NASDAQ:LMNX) , Inogen, Inc. (NASDAQ:INGN) and Edwards Lifesciences, Inc. (NYSE:EW) . Notably, Luminex and Inogen sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), while Edwards Lifesciences carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Luminex has an expected long-term adjusted earnings growth of almost 16.3%. The stock roughly added 7.0% over the last three months.
Inogen has a long-term expected earnings growth rate of 17.5%. The stock has a solid one-year return of around 82%.
Edwards Lifesciences has an expected long-term adjusted earnings growth of almost 16% (last 3–5 years of actual earnings). The stock added roughly 14.8% over the last three months.
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Patterson Companies, Inc. (PDCO): Free Stock Analysis Report
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