ESRX

[luka]

 

Express Scripts Inc. added $1.59 or 2.5 percent, to $64 in the premarket session, after J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. analyst Lisa Gill lifted her rating on the pharmacy benefits manager's shares to "Overweight" from "Neutral." Shares closed at $62.41 on the Nasdaq Friday.

Gill said she expects shares to rise after the Maryland Heights, Mo., company provides anticipated strong 2007 guidance Tuesday. She also said shares are valued attractively after the entire sector declined during the past two months.

"We continue to believe PBM industry fundamentals are the strongest we've seen in recent years, driven by opportunities around generics (mail generics are 2-4 times more profitable for PBMs) and specialty pharmacy (based on the robust pipeline and demand from payors for a solution to manage these costs)," the analyst wrote.

The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $58.79 to $95.

[chakkar]

Should be a safe ride to at least the $72-$73-range of the 50-dma, with this $64-$66-range serving as support by the analysts. All the bad news plus the Democratic-party-sweep impact on affected drug stocks has been factored. Even weak economic data this week will not drive this down more than 10% from today's close of $65.96, imho. Excellent risk-reward scenario if you want to buy ahead of Company update. (Just remember that it's still a significantly risky investment.)

Timely post, imho.

[chakkar]

Here's the catalyst for the ride...
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http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7B9E3336F1%2DDCDA%2D497F%2D84CB%2D95E0A3550AFC%7D&source=blq%2Fyhoo&dist=yhoo&siteid=yhoo

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Express Scripts Inc. on Tuesday forecast that profit would grow by 20% to 24% for 2007, helped in part by generic drugs, home delivery and lower-cost brand drugs.

The forecast issued by the St. Louis-based pharmacy-benefit manager spells stronger growth than Wall Street's been expecting.

Express Scripts said it expects to post a profit of $3.90 to $4.02 a share next year. The forecast includes an allowance for a potential impact arising from possible changes to average wholesale prices. Such changes would be related to a settlement proposed by First DataBank in a civil class-action lawsuit, the company said.

Analysts are currently forecasting full-year 2007 earnings of $3.84 a share, according to Thomson First Call.

Shares of Express Scripts traded up about 4.2% in the premarket.

[setravis]

Stock Split.......
Last Split Factor 2:1
Split Date  25-Jun-07


52wk Range: 29.40 - 53.68
Volume: 491,498
Avg Vol (3m): 3,467,690

Technicals
Last Price Quote is:
2.95%above 13-day MA
7.76%above 50-day MA
RS Rating: 89 

Fundamentals
Earnings Expected on Jul 25

Key Data:
Market Cap (M): $14,528.69 
P/E Ratio: 29.64 
PEG Ratio: 1.28649 
Next Earnings: 07/25/2007
Last Analyst Rating: Strong Buy

[BigSully1]

chart update

http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=ESRX&p=D&b=5&g=0&id=p92519849171