In the latest close session, Accenture (ACN) was up +1.64% at $246.53. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.06%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.68%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.26%.
Heading into today, shares of the consulting company had lost 0.67% over the past month, lagging the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 6.16% and the S&P 500's gain of 4.57%.
The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Accenture in its upcoming release. The company's upcoming EPS is projected at $3.74, signifying a 4.18% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Alongside, our most recent consensus estimate is anticipating revenue of $18.56 billion, indicating a 4.93% upward movement from the same quarter last year.
For the annual period, the Zacks Consensus Estimates anticipate earnings of $13.78 per share and a revenue of $73.8 billion, signifying shifts of +6.57% and +5.92%, respectively, from the last year.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Accenture. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the business health and profitability.
Our research reveals that these estimate alterations are directly linked with the stock price performance in the near future. To utilize this, we have created the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model that integrates these estimate changes and provides a functional 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 shifted 0.18% downward. As of now, Accenture holds a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Looking at valuation, Accenture is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 17.6. This expresses a premium compared to the average Forward P/E of 17.3 of its industry.
Also, we should mention that ACN has a PEG ratio of 2.11. 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 Computers - IT Services industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.92.
The Computers - IT Services industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 61, putting it in the top 25% 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.
Be sure to use Zacks.com to monitor all these stock-influencing metrics, and more, throughout the forthcoming trading sessions.
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Accenture PLC (ACN): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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