Accenture (ACN) Outperforms Broader Market: What You Need to Know

Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of Accenture in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's upcoming EPS is projected at $3.19, signifying a 5.28% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $18.01 billion, reflecting a 2.36% rise from the equivalent quarter last year.

ACN's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $13.85 per share and revenue of $73.54 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +7.12% and +5.55%, respectively.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Accenture should also be noted by investors. 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 business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable 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, there's been no change in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. Accenture presently features a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).

Looking at its valuation, Accenture is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 11.79. This indicates a discount in contrast to its industry's Forward P/E of 13.55.

We can additionally observe that ACN currently boasts a PEG ratio of 1.69. The PEG ratio bears resemblance to the frequently used P/E ratio, but this parameter also includes the company's expected earnings growth trajectory. As the market closed yesterday, the Computers - IT Services industry was having an average PEG ratio of 1.15.

The Computers - IT Services industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 90, putting it in the top 37% 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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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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