Fiserv (FISV) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know
Fiserv (FISV) closed at $106.19 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.88% move from the prior day. The stock lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.02%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.74%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.38%.
Heading into today, shares of the financial services technology company had gained 9.52% over the past month, outpacing the Business Services sector's loss of 2.81% and the S&P 500's loss of 0.91% in that time.
Fiserv will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.56, up 20% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $4.04 billion, up 11.56% from the year-ago period.
For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $5.57 per share and revenue of $15.41 billion, which would represent changes of +26.02% and +10.81%, respectively, from the prior year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Fiserv should also be noted by investors. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.01% lower. Fiserv is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Fiserv has a Forward P/E ratio of 18.89 right now. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 25, so we one might conclude that Fiserv is trading at a discount comparatively.
Meanwhile, FISV's PEG ratio is currently 1.32. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. The Financial Transaction Services industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.09 as of yesterday's close.
The Financial Transaction Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 167, putting it in the bottom 35% 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.
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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