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Morgan Stanley (MS) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

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Morgan Stanley (MS - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $53.25, moving +1.27% from the previous trading session. The stock lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.54%. At the same time, the Dow added 1.59%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.98%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the investment bank had gained 6.74% over the past month. This has outpaced the Finance sector's gain of 4.61% and lagged the S&P 500's gain of 8% in that time.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from MS as it approaches its next earnings report date. On that day, MS is projected to report earnings of $1.10 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 9.09%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $9.74 billion, down 2.87% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $5.05 per share and revenue of $42.38 billion. These totals would mark changes of +1.41% and +2.31%, respectively, from last year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for MS. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

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 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. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection remained stagnant. MS is currently a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking at its valuation, MS is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 10.41. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 14.59.

Also, we should mention that MS has a PEG ratio of 1.09. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. The Financial - Investment Bank was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.07 at yesterday's closing price.

The Financial - Investment Bank industry is part of the Finance sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 44, which puts it in the top 18% 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.

Make sure to utilize Zacks. Com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.


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