Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.B) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know

Read MoreHide Full Article

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.B - Free Report) closed at $198.26 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.67% move from the prior day. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.22% gain on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.59%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.16%.

Coming into today, shares of the company had gained 0.21% in the past month. In that same time, the Finance sector gained 2.69%, while the S&P 500 gained 0.49%.

Investors will be hoping for strength from BRK.B as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be February 22, 2019. In that report, analysts expect BRK.B to post earnings of $2.23 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 65.19%.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for BRK.B. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. 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. 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, 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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 1.56% higher. BRK.B currently has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Digging into valuation, BRK.B currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 18.92. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 12.09, so we one might conclude that BRK.B is trading at a premium comparatively.

Investors should also note that BRK.B has a PEG ratio of 2.7 right now. 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. The Insurance - Property and Casualty was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.1 at yesterday's closing price.

The Insurance - Property and Casualty industry is part of the Finance sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 83, putting it in the top 33% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our 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.

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


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.B) - free report >>

Published in