CIGNA and Forest Laboratories Open Near 52-Week Highs

CIGNA (NYSE: CI) and Forest Laboratories (NYSE: FRX) reached new 52-week highs of $50.70 and $37.87 per share, respectively, on Thursday but were lower in premarket trading Friday.

CIGNA was raised to Outperform as yesterday's Bull of the Day at Zacks. The company has a market cap of $13.6 billion and is a leading health insurer in the United States.

The company has a P/E ratio of 10.0, a PEG ratio of 1.1, and a return on equity of 53.4%. Its long-term EPS growth forecast is 9.0%. Shares are up more than 35% year to date, outperforming the health services industry average as well as the broader markets.

Forest Laboratories just announced that recently approved Daliresp will be available in pharmacies throughout the U.S. by mid-June. The company develops and manufactures name-brand and generic prescription and over-the-counter pharmaceutical products, and it has a market cap of $10.8 billion.

Its return on equity is 15.5%. The P/E ratio is 8.6, which is much less than the industry average of 33.8. The stock is more than 18% higher year to date, outperforming larger competitors Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) and GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK).