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Agilent Technologies (A) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know

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Agilent Technologies (A - Free Report) closed at $157.80 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.65% move from the prior day. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.62%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.55%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.03%.

Coming into today, shares of the scientific instrument maker had gained 2.49% in the past month. In that same time, the Computer and Technology sector lost 1.01%, while the S&P 500 gained 0.39%.

Investors will be hoping for strength from Agilent Technologies as it approaches 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.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $4.82 per share and revenue of $6.7 billion, which would represent changes of +11.06% and +6.01%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Agilent Technologies. 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. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, 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. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.01% higher. Agilent Technologies is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at its valuation, Agilent Technologies is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 32.56. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 29.47.

Meanwhile, A's PEG ratio is currently 3.62. 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 was holding an average PEG ratio of 3.23 at yesterday's closing price.

The Electronics - Testing Equipment industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 116, putting it in the top 46% 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.

Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.


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