AstraZeneca: Analyst Ratings and Recommendations

As we saw earlier, Wall Street analysts are estimating that AstraZeneca (AZN) will report EPS (earnings per share) of $0.47 on revenues of $5.4 billion in 4Q17, a 2.5% decline compared to $5.6 billion in 4Q16. For 2017, its revenues are expected to decrease 4% to $22.1 billion compared to $23 billion for 2016.

The above chart shows analysts’ recommendations for AstraZeneca stock over the last 12 months.

AstraZeneca stock has risen 32% over the last 12 months. It has risen 3% in 2018 year-to-date. Analysts’ estimates show that the stock has a potential to return 8.6% over the next 12 months. Analyst recommendations show a 12-month target price of $38.82 per share compared to the last price of $35.75 on January 30, 2018.

As of January 31, 2018, there are five analysts tracking AstraZeneca on the New York Stock Exchange. Four of them recommend a “buy” for the stock, and one recommends a “hold.” The consensus rating for AstraZeneca stands at 1.6, which represents a “strong buy.”

On the London Stock Exchange, 34 analysts are tracking AstraZeneca stock. Twenty-two of them are recommending a “buy,” seven have recommended a “hold,” and five have recommended a “sell,” as you can see in the graph above. AZN stock has risen 18.5% over the last 12 months. The consensus rating for the stock is 2.26, which represents a “moderate buy.”

As of January 31, 2018, AstraZeneca is trading at a forward PE (price-to-earnings) multiple of 21.5x, compared to the industry average of 14.8x. Its forward EV-to-EBITDA (enterprise value to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization) multiple is 15.1x, compared to the industry average of 11.4x.

The Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US ETF (VEU) holds 7.3% of its total investments in healthcare companies. It has 0.4% in AstraZeneca (AZN), 0.4% in Sanofi (SNY), 0.8% in Novartis AG (NVS), and 0.4% in GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).