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Accenture (ACN) Dips More Than Broader Markets: What You Should Know

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Accenture (ACN - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $307.40, moving -1.38% from the previous trading session. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 1.16%. At the same time, the Dow lost 1.02%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.14%.

Coming into today, shares of the consulting company had lost 2.52% in the past month. In that same time, the Business Services sector lost 1.7%, while the S&P 500 lost 0.27%.

Investors will be hoping for strength from Accenture as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be September 28, 2023. The company is expected to report EPS of $2.63, up 1.15% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $16.06 billion, up 4.1% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $11.59 per share and revenue of $64.18 billion, which would represent changes of +8.22% and +4.2%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Accenture. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month. Accenture currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In terms of valuation, Accenture is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 26.89. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 22.7, so we one might conclude that Accenture is trading at a premium comparatively.

Investors should also note that ACN has a PEG ratio of 2.83 right now. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. Consulting Services stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.7 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Consulting Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 67, which puts it in the top 27% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our 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.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.


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