MasterCard (MA) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know
MasterCard (MA) closed at $292.93 in the latest trading session, marking a +1.24% move from the prior day. The stock lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.47%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 2.32%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 1.2%.
Coming into today, shares of the processor of debit and credit card payments had lost 4.29% in the past month. In that same time, the Business Services sector gained 1.14%, while the S&P 500 gained 0.74%.
Investors will be hoping for strength from MA as it approaches its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect MA to post earnings of $1.13 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 40.21%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $3.22 billion, down 21.81% from the year-ago period.
MA's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $6.44 per share and revenue of $15.51 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of -17.12% and -8.14%, respectively.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for MA. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-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. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.65% higher. MA is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Investors should also note MA's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 44.9. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 27.1, so we one might conclude that MA is trading at a premium comparatively.
Investors should also note that MA has a PEG ratio of 3.5 right now. 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. The Financial Transaction Services was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.81 at yesterday's closing price.
The Financial Transaction Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 91, which puts it in the top 36% 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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