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Raytheon (RTN) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, Raytheon closed at $172.43, marking a +0.36% move from the previous day. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.02% loss on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.29%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.39%.

Coming into today, shares of the defense contractor had lost 4.86% in the past month. In that same time, the Aerospace sector lost 5.39%, while the S&P 500 lost 2.56%.

Investors will be hoping for strength from RTN as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be January 24, 2019. On that day, RTN is projected to report earnings of $2.88 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 41.87%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $7.50 billion, up 10.6% from the year-ago period.

RTN's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $10.10 per share and revenue of $27.19 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +32.55% and +7.27%, respectively.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for RTN. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0% higher within the past month. RTN is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Digging into valuation, RTN currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 17.01. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 19.62.

It is also worth noting that RTN currently has a PEG ratio of 1.23. 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. Aerospace - Defense Equipment stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 2.2 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Aerospace - Defense Equipment industry is part of the Aerospace sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 32, putting it in the top 12% 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.

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

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