Lockheed Martin (LMT) closed at $655.00 in the latest trading session, marking a -1.43% move from the prior day. The stock fell short of the S&P 500, which registered a loss of 0.57% for the day. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 1.61%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.26%.
Coming into today, shares of the aerospace and defense company had gained 10.24% in the past month. In that same time, the Aerospace sector gained 7.46%, while the S&P 500 lost 0.15%.
The upcoming earnings release of Lockheed Martin will be of great interest to investors. In that report, analysts expect Lockheed Martin to post earnings of $7.03 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 3.43%. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $18.51 billion, indicating a 3.06% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $29.81 per share and a revenue of $78.84 billion, demonstrating changes of +28.94% and +5.05%, respectively, from the preceding year.
Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for Lockheed Martin. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the business operations and its ability to generate profits.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-term stock moves. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
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 last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.08% higher. At present, Lockheed Martin boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
From a valuation perspective, Lockheed Martin is currently exchanging hands at a Forward P/E ratio of 22.29. This signifies a discount in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 25.44 for its industry.
Also, we should mention that LMT has a PEG ratio of 1.2. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. As the market closed yesterday, the Aerospace - Defense industry was having an average PEG ratio of 2.15.
The Aerospace - Defense industry is part of the Aerospace sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 75, positioning it in the top 31% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank evaluates the power of our distinct industry groups by determining the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks forming the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Don't forget to use Zacks.com to keep track of all these stock-moving metrics, and others, in the upcoming trading sessions.
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Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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