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Why the Market Dipped But Leidos (LDOS) Gained Today

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In the latest market close, Leidos (LDOS - Free Report) reached $157.06, with a +0.62% movement compared to the previous day. The stock's change was more than the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.19%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.09%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.36%.

Coming into today, shares of the security and engineering company had gained 1.83% in the past month. In that same time, the Aerospace sector gained 0.86%, while the S&P 500 gained 2.06%.

The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Leidos in its forthcoming earnings report. On that day, Leidos is projected to report earnings of $1.95 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 3.94%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $4.04 billion, up 3.08% from the year-ago period.

Regarding the entire year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates forecast earnings of $8.95 per share and revenue of $16.27 billion, indicating changes of +22.6% and +5.4%, respectively, compared to the previous year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Leidos. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

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. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has remained unchanged. Leidos is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Looking at valuation, Leidos is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 17.43. This expresses a discount compared to the average Forward P/E of 20.99 of its industry.

Also, we should mention that LDOS has a PEG ratio of 1.39. 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. By the end of yesterday's trading, the Aerospace - Defense industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.04.

The Aerospace - Defense industry is part of the Aerospace sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 27, placing it within the top 11% of over 250 industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered 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.

Remember to apply Zacks.com to follow these and more stock-moving metrics during the upcoming trading sessions.


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