The company is one of the nation’s leading drugstore chains, with nearly 4,600 stores in 31 states and the District of Columbia. Many on Wall Street see the company very favorably positioned in health care, given its geographic overlap with Medicaid expansion, as well as its push into clinics. Bullish Wall Street analysts think the fiscal year 2016 EBITDA numbers are conservative, which bodes well if Rite Aid surprises to the upside. The company is debt-laden after a monster buyout of Envision Pharmaceutical Services from private investment firm TPG, and it priced a huge bond deal this week to help pay for it.
Reports that renewed takeover chatter has surfaced around Rite Aid have sent shares about 5% higher. The question that investors really should be considering here is not what price may be paid for Rite Aid, but who might actually buy it.
The speculation came after the CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (NASDAQ: WBA) said that the group was looking for a U.S. acquisition. A report from Yahoo! noted, “Traders are speculating Rite Aid is a better target compared to smaller mom and pop drugstores. And there still are a few of those.”
Ahead of earnings, a few analysts gave their calls for Rite Aid on April 6:
- Cowen maintained an Outperform rating and set its price target at $12.
- Jeffries maintained a Hold rating with a price target at $8.25.
- Deutsche Bank upgraded Rite Aid to a Buy rating with a $9 price target.
- J.P. Morgan initiated coverage with an Overweight rating and a $10 price target.
Shares were down 1.7% at $8.69 Tuesday, in a 52-week trading range is $4.42 to $9.07. The consensus analyst price target is $9.69 and implies an upside of 11.5% from current prices.
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