Here's Why Accenture (ACN) Gained But Lagged the Market Today
The latest trading session saw Accenture (ACN) ending at $372.95, denoting a +0.55% adjustment from its last day's close. The stock lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.07%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.35%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 1.74%.
Heading into today, shares of the consulting company had gained 10.03% over the past month, outpacing the Business Services sector's gain of 3.12% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.93% in that time.
The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Accenture in its upcoming release. The company is slated to reveal its earnings on March 21, 2024. On that day, Accenture is projected to report earnings of $2.65 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 1.49%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $15.84 billion, up 0.15% from the year-ago period.
Looking at the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $12.22 per share and revenue of $66.22 billion. These totals would mark changes of +4.71% and +3.29%, respectively, from last year.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Accenture. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. Hence, positive alterations in estimates signify analyst optimism regarding the company's business and profitability.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. To take advantage of this, we've established the Zacks Rank, an exclusive model that considers these estimated changes and delivers an operational rating system.
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, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.02% lower. Accenture is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Digging into valuation, Accenture currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 30.36. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 21.78, which means Accenture is trading at a premium to the group.
Also, we should mention that ACN has a PEG ratio of 3.41. 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. The Consulting Services industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.35 as of yesterday's close.
The Consulting Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 82, positioning it in the top 33% 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.
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
