The Dividend Daily

Drugstore chain, Walgreen Company(WAG) reported a decline in earnings for the quarter, missing analysts estimates on Friday.

The Deerfield, IL based company reported first quarter earnings of $413 million or 43 cents per share, a 34% decline from last years Q1 earnings of $554 million, or 63 cents per share. Excluding special items, EPS came in at 58 cents. On average, analysts expected to see earnings of 70 cents per share.

Quarterly revenue came in at $17.32 billion, down from $18.16 billion last year. Analysts expected to see revenue of $17.43 billion.

WAG noted that these results include its investment in Alliance Boots, which is on a one month lag.

CEO Doug Wilson commented, “during a quarter that included a number of non-operational items, as well as the ongoing Express Scripts (Nasdaq: ESRX) impact, we saw the underlying performance of our business strengthen with improved gross profit margins and an upswing in comparable prescriptions filled in the quarter.”

Walgreens shares were down 85 cents, or 2.26% during premarket trading Friday. The stock is up 13.5% YTD.

The Bottom Line
Shares of Walgreens (WAG) have a 2.93% dividend yield, based on last night’s closing stock price of $31.59. The stock has technical support in the $28-$29 price area. If the shares can firm up, we see overhead resistance around the $32-$34 price levels.

Walgreen Company(WAG) is not recommended at this time, holding a Dividend.com DARS™ Rating of 3.3 out of 5 stars.

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