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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 at $24.05 in the latest trading session, marking a -1.92% move from the prior day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.82% gain on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.82%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.64%.

Heading into today, shares of the company that leases furniture and appliances with an option to buy had lost 7.3% over the past month, lagging the Consumer Discretionary sector's loss of 5.02% and the S&P 500's loss of 4.58% in that time.

RCII will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect RCII to post earnings of $0.56 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 19.15%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $641.66 million, down 2.15% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $2.12 per share and revenue of $2.61 billion. These totals would mark changes of +100% and -1.94%, respectively, from last year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for RCII. 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, 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 11.27% higher. RCII is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

In terms of valuation, RCII is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 11.55. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 13.2, which means RCII is trading at a discount to the group.

The Consumer Services - Miscellaneous industry is part of the Consumer Discretionary sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 78, which puts it in the top 31% 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 RCII in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.

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