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Lowe's (LOW) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, Lowe's (LOW - Free Report) closed at $194.14, marking a +0.64% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 1.52% gain on the day.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the home improvement retailer had gained 2.13% over the past month. This has outpaced the Retail-Wholesale sector's loss of 1.17% and lagged the S&P 500's gain of 2.41% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from LOW as it approaches its next earnings release. On that day, LOW is projected to report earnings of $3.87 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 3.2%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $26.87 billion, down 1.59% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $10.82 per share and revenue of $91.63 billion, which would represent changes of +22.12% and +2.26%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for LOW. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

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. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.54% higher. LOW is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Investors should also note LOW's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 17.84. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 13.73, which means LOW is trading at a premium to the group.

Meanwhile, LOW's PEG ratio is currently 1.3. 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. LOW's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.3 as of yesterday's close.

The Building Products - Retail industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 27, which puts it in the top 11% 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 LOW in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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