United Parcel Service (UPS) closed the most recent trading day at $111.96, moving +1.76% from the previous trading session. The stock's performance was ahead of the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.45%. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a drop of 0.25%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw a decrease of 1.16%.
Coming into today, shares of the package delivery service had gained 2.15% in the past month. In that same time, the Transportation sector gained 1.66%, while the S&P 500 gained 2.14%.
The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of United Parcel Service in its upcoming release. The company is forecasted to report an EPS of $1.66, showcasing a 7.1% upward movement from the corresponding quarter of the prior year. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $21.51 billion, up 1.34% from the year-ago period.
For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $7.11 per share and a revenue of $89.78 billion, demonstrating changes of -0.7% and +1.26%, respectively, from the preceding year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for United Parcel Service should also be noted by investors. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. Hence, positive alterations in estimates signify analyst optimism regarding the business and profitability.
Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. To take advantage of this, we've established the Zacks Rank, an exclusive model that considers these estimated changes and delivers an operational rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.14% higher. United Parcel Service presently features a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that United Parcel Service has a Forward P/E ratio of 15.47 right now. This represents a discount compared to its industry average Forward P/E of 16.08.
One should further note that UPS currently holds a PEG ratio of 1.75. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. By the end of yesterday's trading, the Transportation - Air Freight and Cargo industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.72.
The Transportation - Air Freight and Cargo industry is part of the Transportation sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 32, putting it in the top 14% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
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United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).