MasterCard (MA) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know

MasterCard (MA) closed at $245.31 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.75% move from the prior day. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.22%. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.22%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.23%.

Heading into today, shares of the processor of debit and credit card payments had gained 4.37% over the past month, lagging the Business Services sector's gain of 4.45% and the S&P 500's gain of 4.87% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from MA as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be April 30, 2019. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.67, up 11.33% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $3.88 billion, up 8.29% from the year-ago period.

MA's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $7.56 per share and revenue of $16.78 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +16.49% and +12.24%, respectively.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for MA. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. 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. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.02% lower within the past month. MA currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Digging into valuation, MA currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 32.21. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 22.09, so we one might conclude that MA is trading at a premium comparatively.

Also, we should mention that MA has a PEG ratio of 1.93. 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 Financial Transaction Services was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.73 at yesterday's closing price.

The Financial Transaction Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 93, putting it in the top 37% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

To follow MA in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
 
Mastercard Incorporated (MA) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.