Accenture (ACN) closed at $308.04 in the latest trading session, marking a +1.18% move from the prior day. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.24% gain on the day. At the same time, the Dow added 0.03%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 5.73%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the consulting company had gained 14.97% over the past month. This has outpaced the Business Services sector's gain of 3.81% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.56% in that time.
Investors will be hoping for strength from Accenture as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be June 22, 2023. The company is expected to report EPS of $2.94, up 5.38% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $16.45 billion, up 1.82% from the prior-year quarter.
ACN's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $11.57 per share and revenue of $64.34 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +8.03% and +4.46%, respectively.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Accenture. 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, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.04% lower. Accenture is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
In terms of valuation, Accenture is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 26.32. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 20.82, which means Accenture is trading at a premium to the group.
Investors should also note that ACN has a PEG ratio of 2.77 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 Consulting Services was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.56 at yesterday's closing price.
The Consulting Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 82, which puts it in the top 33% 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.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
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