Yahoo Finance Agilent Technologies (A) Dips More Than Broader Markets: What You Should Know
Agilent Technologies (A) closed at $159.65 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.76% move from the prior day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.26%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.16%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.04%.
Coming into today, shares of the scientific instrument maker had gained 6.55% in the past month. In that same time, the Computer and Technology sector gained 2.19%, while the S&P 500 gained 4.82%.
Agilent Technologies will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect Agilent Technologies to post earnings of $1.17 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 10.38%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $1.65 billion, up 6.75% from the year-ago period.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $4.82 per share and revenue of $6.7 billion. These totals would mark changes of +11.06% and +6.01%, respectively, from last year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Agilent Technologies. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest 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. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection remained stagnant. Agilent Technologies is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Investors should also note Agilent Technologies's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 33.41. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 30.61.
It is also worth noting that A currently has a PEG ratio of 3.71. 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 Electronics - Testing Equipment industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 3.33 as of yesterday's close.
The Electronics - Testing Equipment industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 112, putting it in the top 45% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual 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.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.
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