DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) — Cardinal Health hiked its 2016 earnings forecast after its first-quarter profit jumped 44 percent and easily beat Wall Street expectations. The prescription drug distributor now expects adjusted earnings for the year to range between $5.15 and $5.35, up from a previous forecast for $4.85 to $5.05 per share. That's also better than the per-share projections from analysts that follow the company, according to FactSet. Cardinal earned $383 million compared with $266 million during last year's first quarter, when the company took a hit from the expiration of a contract with Walgreens, the nation's largest drugstore chain. Cardinal earnings adjusted for one-time costs totaled $1.38 per share in the most recent quarter.Read more on NewsOK.com