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Morgan Stanley (MS) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know

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Morgan Stanley (MS - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $47.97, moving +1.5% from the previous trading session. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.96%. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.48%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 2.22%.

Heading into today, shares of the investment bank had lost 10.41% over the past month, lagging the Finance sector's loss of 3.5% and the S&P 500's loss of 4.04% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from MS as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be October 15, 2020. On that day, MS is projected to report earnings of $1.15 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 4.96%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $10.06 billion, up 0.33% from the prior-year quarter.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $5.18 per share and revenue of $42.76 billion. These totals would mark changes of +4.02% and +3.24%, respectively, from last year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for MS. 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.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. 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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 2.28% higher within the past month. MS is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Digging into valuation, MS currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 9.12. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 13.96.

It is also worth noting that MS currently has a PEG ratio of 0.95. 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 industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.02 as of yesterday's close.

The Financial - Investment Bank industry is part of the Finance sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 106, putting it in the top 42% 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 MS in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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