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Air Products and Chemicals (APD) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

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Air Products and Chemicals (APD - Free Report) closed at $290.76 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.66% move from the prior day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 1.22% gain on the day. At the same time, the Dow added 1.26%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 4.63%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the seller of gases for industrial, medical and other uses had gained 4.58% over the past month. This has outpaced the Basic Materials sector's gain of 2.96% and lagged the S&P 500's gain of 6.22% in that time.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Air Products and Chemicals as it approaches its next earnings report date. In that report, analysts expect Air Products and Chemicals to post earnings of $2.91 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 11.07%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $3.28 billion, up 2.86% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $11.42 per share and revenue of $13.28 billion, which would represent changes of +9.7% and +4.58%, respectively, from the prior year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Air Products and Chemicals should also be noted by investors. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. 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. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.21% higher within the past month. Air Products and Chemicals is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at its valuation, Air Products and Chemicals is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 25.3. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 14.08, so we one might conclude that Air Products and Chemicals is trading at a premium comparatively.

Meanwhile, APD's PEG ratio is currently 2.66. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The Chemical - Diversified was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.41 at yesterday's closing price.

The Chemical - Diversified industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 116, putting it in the top 47% 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 APD in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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