Accenture (ACN) Rises As Market Takes a Dip: Key Facts
The most recent trading session ended with Accenture (ACN) standing at $383.71, reflecting a +0.71% shift from the previouse trading day's closing. The stock outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a daily loss of 0.12%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.25%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.41%.
Shares of the consulting company have appreciated by 2.16% over the course of the past month, underperforming the Business Services sector's gain of 7.65% and the S&P 500's gain of 4.83%.
Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Accenture in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings report is set to be unveiled on March 21, 2024. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $2.65, reflecting a 1.49% decrease from the same quarter last year. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $15.84 billion, indicating a 0.15% growth compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.
ACN's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $12.22 per share and revenue of $66.22 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +4.71% and +3.29%, respectively.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Accenture. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. Therefore, positive revisions in estimates convey analysts' confidence in the company's business performance and profit potential.
Our research reveals that these estimate alterations are directly linked with the stock price performance in the near future. 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.
The Zacks Rank system, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, there's been no change in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. As of now, Accenture holds a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
From a valuation perspective, Accenture is currently exchanging hands at a Forward P/E ratio of 31.19. This expresses a premium compared to the average Forward P/E of 23.46 of its industry.
Also, we should mention that ACN has a PEG ratio of 3.5. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Consulting Services industry held an average PEG ratio of 1.5.
The Consulting Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 154, this industry ranks in the bottom 39% of all industries, numbering over 250.
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.
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 Report
