Accenture (ACN) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

Accenture (ACN) closed at $197.71 in the latest trading session, marking a +1% move from the prior day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.08%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.91%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 1.31%.

Heading into today, shares of the consulting company had gained 3.68% over the past month, outpacing the Business Services sector's gain of 0.59% and the S&P 500's loss of 0.68% in that time.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from ACN as it approaches its next earnings report date. This is expected to be September 26, 2019. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.71, up 8.23% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $11.08 billion, up 9.17% from the year-ago period.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for ACN. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

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 remained stagnant. ACN currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In terms of valuation, ACN is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 24.56. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 18.6.

It is also worth noting that ACN currently has a PEG ratio of 2.38. 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. Consulting Services stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.66 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Consulting Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 71, which puts it in the top 28% 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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