How much steadier can you get than a medical device maker? These companies can usually weather difficult or volatile times (like now), which always make them attractive to the Growth & Income investor.
C.R. Bard, Inc. (BCR) is one such company. It is well diversified with a reasonably strong pipeline, which has helped it put together a string of positive quarterly EPS surprises.
Furthermore, earnings estimates for this year and next have been moving higher in recent weeks, giving BCR a Zacks #2 Rank (‘buy’).
Shares are currently trading at 15x forward earnings with a PEG ratio at 1.27.
C.R. Bard is a leading multinational developer, manufacturer and marketer of innovative, life enhancing medical technologies in the fields of vascular, urology, oncology and surgical specialty products.
It is part of the medical/dental supplies industry, which we have ranked at 76th out of 265 industries.
Earnings Estimates for C.R. Bard
There’s only been a little movement to earnings estimates in the past 30 days, but it has nonetheless gone in the right direction. However, looking over the last few months, we can see that there was a largely positive response to its fourth-quarter report.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2011 is currently $6.39 per share, which is a penny higher than a month ago but 1.4% better than 2 months ago. Over the past 90 days, the consensus has appreciated by 4%. There are 20 total estimates for the period.
Analysts currently anticipate a more than 10% EPS improvement in 2012 over 2011. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for next year is at $7.05 per share. There has been a 1.1% advance over the past 2 months, including a 2-cent lunge in 30 days. The past 3 months have seen this consensus rise by 3.5%. There are 17 total estimates for the period.
Fourth-Quarter Report
On the last day of January, C.R. Bard announced fourth-quarter net sales of $717.1 million. The result was up 6% year over year.
Its core Vascular group did what the star of a team is supposed to do; it led the way with sales growth of 13%. Meanwhile, sales for Oncology were up 6% and sales for Surgical Specialties advanced 5%. Urology was the only ho-hum area with a breakeven performance.
Adjusted earnings per share reached $1.54, compared to $1.39 a year earlier. It surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.48 by a little over 4%.
As mentioned earlier, C.R. Bard has been in the habit recently of surpassing quarterly EPS expectations:
BCR is not scheduled to report its first-quarter results until April. At the moment, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for that quarter is at $1.46 per share. There’s been no movement in the past 30 days, but the guidance is up about 1.4% in 2 months.
BARD C R INC (BCR): Free Stock Analysis Report
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