Topic: How To Invest

Pat: Could I get your view on Catamaran Corp.? It has done well for me, but I would like your opinion on its future prospects given its high valuation. Thanks.

Article Excerpt

Catamaran Corp., $54.00, symbol CTRX on Nasdaq (Shares outstanding: 204.7 million; Market cap: $11.1 billion; www.catamarancorp.com), is a pharmacy benefits manager. (These companies negotiate discounts from drug makers so their clients—employers—can provide drug benefits to their workers with less cost.) Catamaran bought Catalyst Health Solutions for $4.4 billion in July 2012. The company then changed its name to Catamaran from SXC Health Solutions Corp. The combined business is now the fourth-largest pharmacy benefits manager in the U.S. by prescription volume: it manages more than 250 million prescriptions each year on behalf of 25 million customers. The Catalyst acquisition pushed up Catamaran’s revenue by 147.9% in the three months ended September 30, 2012, to $3.1 billion from $1.3 billion a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, earnings per share rose 25%, to $0.25 from $0.20. Catamaran holds cash of $393.0 million, or $1.92 a share. Its $1.2-billion long-term debt is just 10.8% of its $11.1-billion market cap. The company’s long-term outlook is positive: the…