The Walgreen Company was founded in Chicago, Illinois, in 1901 and today has its headquarters in the Chicago suburb of Deerfield, Illinois. In 2014, the company agreed to purchase the remaining 55% of Switzerland-based Alliance Boots that it did not already own to form a global business. Under the terms of the purchase, the two companies merged to form a new holding company, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc., on December 31, 2014.
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. operates as a pharmacy-led health and wellbeing company. The company operates through three segments: Retail Pharmacy USA, Retail Pharmacy International, and Pharmaceutical Wholesale. The Retail Pharmacy USA segment sells prescription drugs and an assortment of general merchandise, including non-prescription drugs, beauty products, photo finishing, seasonal merchandise, greeting cards, and convenience foods through its retail drugstores and convenient care clinics. It also provides specialty pharmacy services; and manages in-store clinics under the brand Healthcare Clinic. As of August 31, 2015, this segment operated 8,173 retail stores under the Walgreens and Duane Reade brands in the United States; and 7 specialty pharmacy locations, as well as managed approximately 400 Healthcare Clinics. The Retail Pharmacy International segment sells prescription drugs; and health, beauty, toiletry, and other consumer products through its pharmacy-led health and beauty stores, as well as through boots.com and BootsWebMD.com. It is also involved in optical practice and related contract manufacturing operations. This segment operated 4,582 retail stores under the No7, Boots Pharmaceuticals, Botanics, Liz Earle, Soap & Glory, and only at Boots brand names in the United Kingdom, Mexico, Chile, Thailand, Norway, the Republic of Ireland, the Netherlands, and Lithuania; and 637 optical practices in the United Kingdom. The Pharmaceutical Wholesale segment engages in the wholesale and distribution of specialty and generic pharmaceuticals, health and beauty products, and home healthcare supplies and equipment, as well as provides services to pharmacies and other healthcare providers. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. was founded in 1901 and is based in Deerfield, Illinois.
(Summary) (Company) (Chart)
13 July 2016 Price $81.77 1yr Target $93.59 Analysts 23 Dividend $1.44 Payout Ratio 46.90% 1yr Cap Gain 14.45% Yield 1.76% 1yr Tot Return 16.21% P/E 26.64 PEG 2.00 Beta 1.10 | EPS (ttm) $3.07 EPS next yr $5.00 Forward P/E 16.34 EPS next 5yr 13.30% 1yr Price Support $66.50 Market Cap $87.09 Bil Revenues $116.53 Bil Earnings $3.37 Bil Profit Margin 2.89% Quick Ratio 0.70 Current Ratio 1.20 Debt/Equity 0.63 | 1yr RevGR 35.41% 3yr RevGR 12.89% 5yr RevGR 8.93% 1yr EarnGR 100.00% 3yr EarnGR 18.03% 5yr EarnGR 13.53% 1yr DivGR 6.66% 3yr DivGR 9.29% 5yr DivGR 15.51% ROA --- ROE --- |
My Opinion
Walgreens Boots Alliance isn't cheap but I've been following it for a number of years and it never seems to be cheap. But if you look forward at the estimates, this company may not be as expensive as first perceived. The estimated forward P/E is only 16 and that's lower than it's been in a long, long time. But that's today's price compared to next year's estimated earnings (which may or may not be realized).
With a five year estimated earnings growth of just above 13%, I'd ideally like to buy this stock nearer to $66.50 per share. I'm not sure, however, if the stock will ever be price that low. So what I'll most likely do is start a position at this level and add additional shares on any pullback.