General Finance (GFN) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know
General Finance (GFN) closed at $13.06 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.54% move from the prior day. The stock lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.09%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.97%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 2.01%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the owner of mobile storage, liquid containment and modular space businesses had lost 17.42% over the past month. This has lagged the Business Services sector's loss of 11.04% and the S&P 500's loss of 7.81% in that time.
GFN will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be November 6, 2018. The company is expected to report EPS of -$0.01, up 75% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $86.10 million, up 11.93% from the prior-year quarter.
For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $0.23 per share and revenue of $363.55 million, which would represent changes of +283.33% and +4.68%, respectively, from the prior year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for GFN. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. 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, 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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month. GFN is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that GFN has a Forward P/E ratio of 56.48 right now. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 18.08, which means GFN is trading at a premium to the group.
Also, we should mention that GFN has a PEG ratio of 5.13. 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. GFN's industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.95 as of yesterday's close.
The Business - Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 38, which puts it in the top 15% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order 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.
To follow GFN in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
General Finance Corporation (GFN) : Free Stock Analysis Report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
