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Lockheed Martin (LMT) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know

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Lockheed Martin (LMT - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $385.09, moving +0.83% from the previous trading session. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.15%.

Heading into today, shares of the aerospace and defense company had lost 1.43% over the past month, lagging the Aerospace sector's gain of 4.82% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.58% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from LMT as it approaches its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $6.51, up 6.2% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $16.89 billion, up 4.16% from the prior-year quarter.

LMT's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $26.70 per share and revenue of $68.26 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +8.98% and +4.38%, respectively.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for LMT should also be noted by investors. 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.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. 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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.1% higher within the past month. LMT is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Digging into valuation, LMT currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 14.3. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 17.

Meanwhile, LMT's PEG ratio is currently 3.13. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. The Aerospace - Defense industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.86 as of yesterday's close.

The Aerospace - Defense industry is part of the Aerospace sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 215, putting it in the bottom 16% 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 LMT in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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