United Airlines (UAL) ended the recent trading session at $104.51, demonstrating a -1.95% change from the preceding day's closing price. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.47%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.11%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.94%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the airline had gained 5.6% outpaced the Transportation sector's loss of 0.44% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.32%.
Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of United Airlines in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $2.65, reflecting a 20.42% decrease from the same quarter last year. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $15.26 billion, indicating a 2.8% growth compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.
UAL's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $10.27 per share and revenue of $58.83 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of -3.2% and +3.1%, respectively.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for United Airlines. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. Therefore, positive revisions in estimates convey analysts' confidence in the business performance and profit potential.
Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant. Right now, United Airlines possesses a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
With respect to valuation, United Airlines is currently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 10.38. This expresses a discount compared to the average Forward P/E of 10.47 of its industry.
One should further note that UAL currently holds a PEG ratio of 1.38. The PEG ratio bears resemblance to the frequently used P/E ratio, but this parameter also includes the company's expected earnings growth trajectory. The average PEG ratio for the Transportation - Airline industry stood at 0.81 at the close of the market yesterday.
The Transportation - Airline industry is part of the Transportation sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 55, putting it in the top 23% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the strength of our separate industry groups by calculating the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks contained within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Keep in mind to rely on Zacks.com to watch all these stock-impacting metrics, and more, in the succeeding trading sessions.
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United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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