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HP (HPQ) Stock Moves -0.24%: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, HP (HPQ - Free Report) closed at $20.99, marking a -0.24% move from the previous day. This move was narrower than the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.9%. At the same time, the Dow lost 1.05%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.79%.

Heading into today, shares of the personal computer and printer maker had lost 0.57% over the past month, lagging the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 3.21% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.52% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from HPQ as it approaches its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.55, up 5.77% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $14.50 billion, down 0.56% from the prior-year quarter.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $2.17 per share and revenue of $58.70 billion, which would represent changes of +7.43% and +0.38%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for HPQ. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-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 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. HPQ currently has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that HPQ has a Forward P/E ratio of 9.69 right now. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 10.53.

Investors should also note that HPQ has a PEG ratio of 3.17 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 Computer - Mini computers industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 2.49 as of yesterday's close.

The Computer - Mini computers industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 98, which puts it in the top 39% 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.

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


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