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United Airlines (UAL) Stock Declines While Market Improves: Some Information for Investors

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United Airlines (UAL - Free Report) closed at $44.90 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.16% move from the prior day. The stock trailed the S&P 500, which registered a daily gain of 0.17%. Elsewhere, the Dow saw a downswing of 0.25%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq appreciated by 0.37%.

Shares of the airline have appreciated by 6.84% over the course of the past month, outperforming the Transportation sector's gain of 3.15% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.8%.

The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of United Airlines in its upcoming release. The company is predicted to post an EPS of -$0.50, indicating a 20.63% growth compared to the equivalent quarter last year. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $12.42 billion, up 8.66% from the prior-year quarter.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $9.76 per share and a revenue of $57.47 billion, demonstrating changes of -2.89% and +6.99%, respectively, from the preceding year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for United Airlines should also be noted by investors. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the company's business health and profitability.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. 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, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, there's been a 0.35% fall in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. United Airlines currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Investors should also note United Airlines's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 4.61. This signifies a discount in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 8.52 for its industry.

We can also see that UAL currently has a PEG ratio of 0.61. The PEG ratio is akin to the commonly utilized P/E ratio, but this measure also incorporates the company's anticipated earnings growth rate. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Transportation - Airline industry held an average PEG ratio of 0.58.

The Transportation - Airline industry is part of the Transportation sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 38, placing it within the top 16% of over 250 industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank evaluates the power of our distinct industry groups by determining the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks forming the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to use Zacks.com to monitor all these stock-influencing metrics, and more, throughout the forthcoming trading sessions.


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