...NEW YORK (S&P Global Ratings) Nov. 8, 2016--S&P Global Ratings said today that its ratings on CVS Health Corp. (###+/Stable/A-2) are unaffected by the company's expectation for lower earnings for fourth-quarter 2016 and fiscal-year 2017 because of prescription volume losses. We still expect the company's adjusted leverage to improve to slightly below 3x in the next few quarters and cash flow generation to remain robust, the majority of which will be used to fund shareholder remunerations. Because of the lower earnings guidance, we do not expect the company to issue material amounts of debt to fund stock repurchases. CVS remains committed to achieving its leverage target of 2.7x. CVS attributed its reduced earnings outlook to retail network changes that contribute to lower prescription volumes. We also believe the soft retailing environment will also likely lead to lower front-end same-store sales, with additional headwinds emanating from reimbursement rate pressures and generic drug introductions....
