3 Stocks Pushing The Drugs Industry Lower

Editor's Note: TheStreet ratings do not represent the views of TheStreet's staff or its contributors. Ratings are established by computer based on metrics for performance (which includes growth, stock performance, efficiency and valuation) and risk (volatility and solvency). Companies with poor cash flow or high debt levels tend to earn lower ratings in our model

All three major indices are trading up today with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) trading up 50 points (0.3%) at 14,379 as of Friday, March 8, 2013, 12:05 PM ET. The NYSE advances/declines ratio sits at 1,811 issues advancing vs. 1,063 declining with 140 unchanged.

The Drugs industry currently sits up 0.6% versus the S&P 500, which is up 0.3%. On the negative front, top decliners within the industry include Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO), down 1.0%, and AstraZeneca (AZN), down 0.7%. A company within the industry that increased today was Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (VRX), up 0.8%.

TheStreet Ratings group would like to highlight 3 stocks pushing the industry lower today:

3. Shire (SHPG) is one of the companies pushing the Drugs industry lower today. As of noon trading, Shire is down $1.67 (-1.8%) to $92.00 on light volume Thus far, 106,458 shares of Shire exchanged hands as compared to its average daily volume of 324,500 shares. The stock has ranged in price between $91.85-$92.85 after having opened the day at $92.69 as compared to the previous trading day's close of $93.67.

Shire plc, a specialty biopharmaceutical company, engages in the research and development, manufacture, sale, and distribution of pharmaceutical products. It operates in three segments: Specialty Pharmaceuticals, Human Genetic Therapies, and Regenerative Medicine. Shire has a market cap of $17.8 billion and is part of the health care sector. The company has a P/E ratio of 24.1, above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Shares are up 2.7% year to date as of the close of trading on Thursday. Currently there are 11 analysts that rate Shire a buy, no analysts rate it a sell, and 3 rate it a hold.

TheStreet Ratings rates Shire as a buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and expanding profit margins. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had lackluster performance in the stock itself. Get the full Shire Ratings Report now.

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