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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 $118.05 in the latest trading session, marking a +1.44% move from the prior day. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.45%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.8%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 1.99%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the scientific instrument maker had gained 0.61% over the past month. This has lagged the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 3.21% and the S&P 500's gain of 4.25% in that time.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Agilent Technologies as it approaches its next earnings report date. On that day, Agilent Technologies is projected to report earnings of $1.37 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 2.24%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $1.66 billion, down 3.5% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $5.61 per share and revenue of $6.99 billion. These totals would mark changes of +7.47% and +2.04%, respectively, from last year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Agilent Technologies should also be noted by investors. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

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.

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 0.11% lower within the past month. 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 20.73. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 25.98.

Investors should also note that A has a PEG ratio of 1.88 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 Electronics - Testing Equipment industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 2.84 as of yesterday's close.

The Electronics - Testing Equipment industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 60, which puts it in the top 24% 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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