Morgan Stanley (MS) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know
Morgan Stanley (MS) closed at $46.61 in the latest trading session, marking a +1.95% move from the prior day. The stock lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 2.12%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 2.13%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 2.64%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the investment bank had lost 0.95% over the past month. This has was narrower than the Finance sector's loss of 2.62% and the S&P 500's loss of 4.4% in that time.
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from MS as it approaches its next earnings report date. This is expected to be January 17, 2019. On that day, MS is projected to report earnings of $1 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 19.05%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $9.59 billion, up 1% from the prior-year quarter.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $4.93 per share and revenue of $41.15 billion. These totals would mark changes of +36.94% and +8.46%, respectively, from last year.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for MS. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. 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 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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 3.01% higher within the past month. MS is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
In terms of valuation, MS is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 9.27. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 12.79, which means MS is trading at a discount to the group.
Also, we should mention that MS has a PEG ratio of 0.79. 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. Financial - Investment Bank stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 0.85 based on yesterday's closing prices.
The Financial - Investment Bank industry is part of the Finance sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 110, which puts it in the top 43% 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.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
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