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United Parcel Service (UPS) Beats Stock Market Upswing: What Investors Need to Know

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In the latest market close, United Parcel Service (UPS - Free Report) reached $157.31, with a +0.3% movement compared to the previous day. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.04%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.14%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.03%.

Shares of the package delivery service have appreciated by 2.99% over the course of the past month, underperforming the Transportation sector's gain of 9.6% and the S&P 500's gain of 5.28%.

Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of United Parcel Service in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings report is set to go public on January 30, 2024. On that day, United Parcel Service is projected to report earnings of $2.45 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 32.32%. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $25.37 billion, showing a 6.14% drop compared to the year-ago quarter.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $8.78 per share and a revenue of $91.41 billion, demonstrating changes of -32.15% and -8.89%, respectively, from the preceding year.

It's also important for investors to be aware of any recent modifications to analyst estimates for United Parcel Service. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. 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, which varies between #1 (Strong Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), carries an impressive track record of exceeding expectations, confirmed by external audits, with stocks at #1 delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.36% lower within the past month. United Parcel Service is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

From a valuation perspective, United Parcel Service is currently exchanging hands at a Forward P/E ratio of 17.86. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 16.02.

It's also important to note that UPS currently trades at a PEG ratio of 1.79. The PEG ratio bears resemblance to the frequently used P/E ratio, but this parameter also includes the company's expected earnings growth trajectory. The Transportation - Air Freight and Cargo was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.79 at yesterday's closing price.

The Transportation - Air Freight and Cargo industry is part of the Transportation sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 227, placing it within the bottom 10% of over 250 industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the strength of our separate industry groups by calculating the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks contained within the 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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