Guardian Pharmacy Services (NYSE:GRDN) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.05 EPS

Guardian Pharmacy Services (NYSE:GRDN) issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.05, FiscalAI reports. The firm had revenue of $336.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $329.89 million. Guardian Pharmacy Services had a return on equity of 30.72% and a net margin of 3.64%.During the same period last year, the company earned $0.22 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis.

Here are the key takeaways from Guardian Pharmacy Services’ conference call:

• Despite an approximately 60% decline in pricing on IRA-impacted branded drugs, Guardian delivered reported revenue growth of 2% (would be low-double-digit absent the IRA) and achieved double-digit gross profit growth through proactive, firm-wide payer negotiations and mitigation actions.
• The IRA introduced new operational complexity — branded drugs now flow through CMS’s Medicare Transaction Facilitator and varied manufacturer data formats — causing a one-time working-capital reset and payment timing delays; management says this is temporary and manageable given its strong balance sheet, but it may strain smaller competitors.
• Underlying operating strength in Q1 included residents and script volumes each up ~10% YoY, revenue of $336.6M, gross profit of $76M (+19% YoY), and adjusted EBITDA of $29.8M (+27% YoY); management raised full-year adjusted EBITDA guidance to $123M–$127M while keeping revenue guidance at $1.40B–$1.42B.
• Guardian completed a non-dilutive secondary offering (6.9M shares at $31) that improved liquidity and investor breadth, plans to maintain its historical M&A pace with a robust pipeline, but recent acquisitions currently depress consolidated margins by roughly ~80 basis points.

Guardian Pharmacy Services Stock Performance

Shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services stock traded down $0.26 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $36.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 542,778 shares, compared to its average volume of 368,476. The stock has a market cap of $1.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.09. Guardian Pharmacy Services has a one year low of $19.17 and a one year high of $41.36. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.28.

Insider Buying and Selling at Guardian Pharmacy Services

In other Guardian Pharmacy Services news, insider Kendall Forbes sold 346,672 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.68, for a total value of $10,289,224.96. Following the sale, the insider owned 453,256 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,452,638.08. This trade represents a 43.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Thomas J. Salentine, Jr. sold 3,570,677 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.68, for a total value of $105,977,693.36. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,469,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $132,649,298.88. This represents a 44.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 9,726,405 shares of company stock worth $288,679,700. 32.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Guardian Pharmacy Services

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GRDN. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lifted its position in Guardian Pharmacy Services by 26.5% in the third quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,647 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services during the 2nd quarter valued at $43,000. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services in the 2nd quarter worth $58,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank bought a new stake in shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services in the 3rd quarter worth $115,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services by 48.0% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $128,000 after buying an additional 1,956 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GRDN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services in a report on Monday, April 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $42.00 price target on the stock. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Guardian Pharmacy Services in a report on Monday, March 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $44.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $41.33.

Guardian Pharmacy Services Company Profile

Guardian Pharmacy Services, Inc, a pharmacy service company, provides a suite of technology-enabled services designed to help residents of long-term health care facilities (LTCFs) in the United States. Its individualized clinical, drug dispensing, and administration capabilities are used to serve the needs of residents in lower acuity LTCFs, such as assisted living facilities and behavioral health facilities and group homes. The company’s Guardian Compass includes dashboards created using data from its data warehouse to help its local pharmacies plan, track, and optimize their business operations; and GuardianShield Programs for LTCFs.