Brokers Suggest Investing in Cardinal (CAH): Read This Before Placing a Bet

Core Viewpoint - The average brokerage recommendation (ABR) for Cardinal Health (CAH) is 1.43, indicating a strong buy sentiment from analysts, but reliance solely on this metric may not be prudent due to potential biases in brokerage recommendations [2][10]. Brokerage Recommendations - Cardinal Health has an ABR of 1.43, which is close to a strong buy, based on recommendations from 14 brokerage firms, with 11 of those being strong buy, representing 78.6% of all recommendations [2]. - Brokerage analysts tend to exhibit a strong positive bias in their ratings, with five "Strong Buy" recommendations for every "Strong Sell" [6][10]. Zacks Rank Comparison - The Zacks Rank, a proprietary stock rating tool, categorizes stocks from 1 (Strong Buy) to 5 (Strong Sell) and is based on earnings estimate revisions, making it a more reliable indicator of near-term stock performance compared to ABR [8][11]. - The Zacks Rank is updated more frequently and reflects timely changes in earnings estimates, unlike the ABR, which may not be current [12]. Earnings Estimates - The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Cardinal Health has increased by 0.7% over the past month to $9.21, indicating growing optimism among analysts regarding the company's earnings prospects [13]. - The recent change in the consensus estimate, along with other factors, has resulted in a Zacks Rank 2 (Buy) for Cardinal Health, suggesting a favorable outlook for the stock [14].