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Verso Corporation (VRS) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, Verso Corporation closed at $24.38, marking a +0.21% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.3% gain on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow 0%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.92%.

Heading into today, shares of the company had lost 19.22% over the past month, lagging the Basic Materials sector's loss of 3.38% and the S&P 500's loss of 4.37% in that time.

VRS will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be March 14, 2019. On that day, VRS is projected to report earnings of $1.71 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 64.42%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $712.83 million, up 11.55% from the year-ago period.

VRS's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $3.53 per share and revenue of $2.70 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +570.67% and +9.7%, respectively.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for VRS. 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.

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.

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 14.24% higher within the past month. VRS currently has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

In terms of valuation, VRS is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 6.89. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 9.93, so we one might conclude that VRS is trading at a discount comparatively.

The Paper and Related Products industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 181, putting it in the bottom 30% 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 VRS in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.

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