Accenture (ACN) closed the most recent trading day at $223.61, moving +1.69% from the previous trading session. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.56%. On the other hand, the Dow registered a gain of 0.26%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq increased by 0.78%.
The stock of consulting company has fallen by 19.37% in the past month, lagging the Computer and Technology sector's loss of 4.09% and the S&P 500's loss of 1.27%.
Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of Accenture in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $2.87, indicating a 1.77% growth compared to the equivalent quarter last year. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $17.74 billion, up 6.51% from the year-ago period.
For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $13.87 per share and a revenue of $73.9 billion, demonstrating changes of +7.27% and +6.07%, respectively, from the preceding year.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Accenture. 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. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection remained stagnant. Right now, Accenture possesses a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
From a valuation perspective, Accenture is currently exchanging hands at a Forward P/E ratio of 15.86. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 13.08, so one might conclude that Accenture is trading at a premium comparatively.
We can also see that ACN currently has a PEG ratio of 2.12. 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 1.23.
The Computers - IT Services industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 129, putting it in the bottom 48% 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.
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Accenture PLC (ACN): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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