Portfolio Grader currently ranks Merck & Co (NYSE:MRK) a Sell. The approach to investing incorporated in this analytical tool developed by Louis Navellier assesses and ranks nearly 5,000 stocks each week from a fundamental and quantitative perspective. MRK has maintained this ranking for the last month.
With a $151.3 billion market value, the company ranks in the top 10% of its industry group, Pharmaceuticals, and in the top decile of sector group, Health Care, in market value. From the perspective of investment attractiveness, the current Portfolio Grader ranking for MRK puts it 117 among the 132 companies in this industry group, a spot that is well below-average; squarely in the bottom quartile of the sector with a ranking of 680 among the 782 companies in the sector of its Health Care sector, and number 4,155 in the nearly 5,000 company Portfolio Grader universe.
Portfolio Grader currently ranks the Health Care sector number 9 among the 12 sectors in its universe putting it in the bottom quartile of all the GICS sectors. The Pharmaceuticals industry group is ranked 47 among the 69 industry groups within the GICS sectors, placing it below-average in terms of the Navellier scoring system.
MRK scores are below-average in 6 of the 8 areas evaluated by Portfolio Grader in the ranking of company stocks.
The company's operational scores are a source of great concern with a ranking for sales growth, operating margin and earnings growth that are substantially below average. Scores for visibility of earnings are mixed, with a ranking for earnings revisions and earnings surprises that are better than average, while the score for earnings momentum is worse than average. MRK's metrics for cash flow and return on equity are worse than its industry group average. Based on these fundamental scores, Merck & Co places in the bottom quartile of the industry group.
The Navellier Proprietary Quantitative Score is used by Portfolio Grader to measure MRK's shares from the viewpoint of risk/reward. This proprietary scoring system evaluates the relative value of the company's shares based on the current price of the shares relative to its peers, the market and risk associated with its industry and sector groups. Based on this risk/reward calculation, MRK currently scores well below-average in its industry group compared to its peers.
Louis Navellier's proprietary Portfolio Grader stock ranking system assesses roughly 5,000 companies every week based on a number of fundamental and quantitative measures. Stocks are given a letter grade based on their results, with A being 'strong buy' and F being 'strong sell'. Explore the tool here.
Commentary provided by UpTick Data Technologies.
