In the latest trading session, Accenture (ACN) closed at $249.37, marking a -3.62% move from the previous day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.52%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 1.24%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.21%.
The consulting company's shares have seen an increase of 45.84% over the last month, surpassing the Computer and Technology sector's loss of 7.7% and the S&P 500's loss of 1.21%.
The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Accenture in its upcoming release. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $3.9, indicating a 1.02% decline compared to the equivalent quarter last year. Alongside, our most recent consensus estimate is anticipating revenue of $19.35 billion, indicating a 3.22% upward movement from the same quarter last year.
For the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $14.68 per share and a revenue of $77.33 billion, representing changes of +5.08% and +4.24%, respectively, from the prior year.
Additionally, investors should keep an eye on any recent revisions to analyst forecasts for Accenture. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the business health and profitability.
Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.19% higher. Currently, Accenture is carrying a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Digging into valuation, Accenture currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 17.62. This signifies a premium in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 16.03 for its industry.
Also, we should mention that ACN has a PEG ratio of 1.99. The PEG ratio is akin to the commonly utilized P/E ratio, but this measure also incorporates the company's anticipated earnings growth rate. The Computers - IT Services was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.38 at yesterday's closing price.
The Computers - IT Services industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 104, putting it in the top 43% of all 250+ industries.
The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Ensure to harness Zacks.com to stay updated with all these stock-shifting metrics, among others, in the next trading sessions.
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