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Berkshire Hathaway B (BRK.B) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, Berkshire Hathaway B (BRK.B - Free Report) closed at $279.12, marking a -0.37% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.75%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the company had lost 4.04% over the past month. This has lagged the Finance sector's loss of 1.76% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.91% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from BRK.B as it approaches its next earnings release. On that day, BRK.B is projected to report earnings of $2.52 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 10.53%.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $11.23 per share and revenue of $284.12 billion, which would represent changes of +22.46% and +15.73%, respectively, from the prior year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for BRK.B. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. 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 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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 1.58% higher within the past month. BRK.B currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at its valuation, BRK.B is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 24.95. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 15.31, which means BRK.B is trading at a premium to the group.

We can also see that BRK.B currently has a PEG ratio of 3.56. 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 1.88 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 186, putting it in the bottom 27% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual 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.


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