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Accenture (ACN) Exceeds Market Returns: Some Facts to Consider

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The most recent trading session ended with Accenture (ACN - Free Report) standing at $330.90, reflecting a +0.94% shift from the previouse trading day's closing. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.74%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.58%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 1.13%.

Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Accenture in its upcoming release. The company plans to announce its earnings on December 19, 2023. The company's upcoming EPS is projected at $3.11, signifying a 0.97% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $16.23 billion, up 3.07% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $12.10 per share and revenue of $66.56 billion. These totals would mark changes of +3.68% and +3.81%, respectively, from last year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Accenture. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. Therefore, positive revisions in estimates convey analysts' confidence in the company's business performance and profit potential.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has remained steady. At present, Accenture boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Digging into valuation, Accenture currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 27.09. This expresses a premium compared to the average Forward P/E of 21.43 of its industry.

Also, we should mention that ACN has a PEG ratio of 3.04. 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 Consulting Services industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.26 as trading concluded yesterday.

The Consulting Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 44, this industry ranks in the top 18% of all industries, numbering over 250.

The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these groups. 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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