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TravelCenters of America (TA) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

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TravelCenters of America closed at $46.82 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.6% move from the prior day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.29%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.8%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 10.96%.

Heading into today, shares of the truck-stop operator had lost 1% over the past month, lagging the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 2.19% and the S&P 500's loss of 0.23% in that time.

TravelCenters of America will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect TravelCenters of America to post earnings of $1.12 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 25.84%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $2.53 billion, up 24.43% from the year-ago period.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for TravelCenters of America. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. 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 remained stagnant within the past month. TravelCenters of America is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that TravelCenters of America has a Forward P/E ratio of 9.97 right now. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 15.16.

The Retail - Convenience Stores industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 3, which puts it in the top 2% 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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