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Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.B) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.B - Free Report) closed at $217.14, marking a +0.8% move from the previous day. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.15% loss on the day. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.4%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 0%.

Coming into today, shares of the company had gained 5.07% in the past month. In that same time, the Finance sector gained 0.5%, while the S&P 500 lost 1.27%.

Investors will be hoping for strength from BRK.B as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be February 22, 2019. The company is expected to report EPS of $2.43, up 80% from the prior-year quarter.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $9.97 per share and revenue of $262 billion, which would represent changes of +70.14% and +8.2%, respectively, from the prior year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for BRK.B. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of 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. 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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 1.87% higher. BRK.B is currently a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking at its valuation, BRK.B is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 21.61. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 15.1, so we one might conclude that BRK.B is trading at a premium comparatively.

Also, we should mention that BRK.B has a PEG ratio of 3.09. 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. BRK.B's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.29 as of yesterday's close.

The Insurance - Property and Casualty industry is part of the Finance sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 185, which puts it in the bottom 28% 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 BRK.B in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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