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Weight Watchers International (WTW) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know

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Weight Watchers International (WTW - Free Report) closed at $49.62 in the latest trading session, marking a -1.23% move from the prior day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.22%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.49%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.15%.

Coming into today, shares of the weight-loss program operator had lost 23.94% in the past month. In that same time, the Consumer Discretionary sector lost 1.74%, while the S&P 500 lost 0.57%.

WTW will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be February 26, 2019. In that report, analysts expect WTW to post earnings of $0.64 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 72.97%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $348.77 million, up 11.61% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $2.89 per share and revenue of $1.53 billion. These totals would mark changes of +75.15% and +17.23%, respectively, from last year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for WTW. 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 has moved 1.93% lower within the past month. WTW is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Investors should also note WTW's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 17.37. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 16.34, which means WTW is trading at a premium to the group.

We can also see that WTW currently has a PEG ratio of 0.77. 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. WTW's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.29 as of yesterday's close.

The Consumer Services - Miscellaneous industry is part of the Consumer Discretionary sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 66, putting it in the top 26% 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.

To follow WTW in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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