Accenture (ACN) ended the recent trading session at $236.76, demonstrating a -1.6% change from the preceding day's closing price. The stock's change was less than the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.47%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.04%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.9%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the consulting company had lost 14.27% lagged the Computer and Technology sector's loss of 1.96% and the S&P 500's loss of 0.16%.
The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Accenture in its upcoming release. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $2.87, reflecting a 1.77% increase from the same quarter last year. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $17.74 billion, indicating a 6.51% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
ACN's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $13.87 per share and revenue of $73.9 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +7.27% and +6.07%, respectively.
Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for Accenture. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the business outlook.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-term stock moves. To capitalize on this, we've crafted the Zacks Rank, a unique model that incorporates these estimate changes and offers a practical 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 last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has witnessed a 0.17% increase. Right now, Accenture possesses a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Accenture has a Forward P/E ratio of 17.35 right now. This represents a premium compared to its industry average Forward P/E of 14.86.
Investors should also note that ACN has a PEG ratio of 2.32 right now. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. ACN's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.29 as of yesterday's close.
The Computers - IT Services industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 143, placing it within the bottom 42% of over 250 industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming 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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