Laura McCandless
1 min read
Drugstore stock Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA) has been seeing muted price action for the past few months, ever since news that Sycamore Partners is taking the company private in a $10 billion deal. The stock was last seen flat at $11.21 today, but for those wondering if any sort of meaningful breakout is looming, June doesn't look good.
Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White compiled a list of the worst S&P 500 Index (SPX) stocks to own in June, going back a decade, and Walgreens Boots Alliance is at the top. WBA has averaged a loss of 3.7% for the month, finishing lower 80% of the time over the last 10 years.
There is plenty of room for downgrades that could also provide headwinds: of the 15 analysts in coverage, two carry a "buy" or better and 11 a tepid "hold." An unwinding of optimism in the options pits could have the same effect. WBA's 10-day call/put volume ratio of 4.57 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) ranks higher than 84% of readings from the past year.
Options look like a good way to go when weighing in. The stock's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 23% ranks in the low 12th percentile of its annual range, meaning options traders are pricing in low volatility expectations. WBA has tended to outperform these expectations as well, per its Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS) of 81 out of 100.
