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Rent-A-Center (RCII) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know

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Rent-A-Center closed the most recent trading day at $17.79, moving -0.56% from the previous trading session. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.47% gain on the day. At the same time, the Dow added 0.68%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.74%.

Heading into today, shares of the company that leases furniture and appliances with an option to buy had gained 10.91% over the past month, outpacing the Consumer Discretionary sector's gain of 7.61% and the S&P 500's gain of 7.71% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from RCII as it approaches its next earnings release. On that day, RCII is projected to report earnings of $0.19 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 146.34%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $654.47 million, up 2.43% from the year-ago period.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for RCII. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-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. 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 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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.26% higher. RCII is currently a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

In terms of valuation, RCII is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 10.12. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 12.51.

The Consumer Services - Miscellaneous industry is part of the Consumer Discretionary sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 46, putting it in the top 19% 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 RCII in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.

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