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CenturyLink (CTL) Dips More Than Broader Markets: What You Should Know

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CenturyLink closed at $11.92 in the latest trading session, marking a -1.49% move from the prior day. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.09%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.03%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.16%.

Coming into today, shares of the communications company had lost 17.69% in the past month. In that same time, the Computer and Technology sector gained 4.21%, while the S&P 500 gained 2.35%.

CTL will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. On that day, CTL is projected to report earnings of $0.29 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 16%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $5.75 billion, down 3.29% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $1.24 per share and revenue of $22.77 billion. These totals would mark changes of +4.2% and -3.43%, respectively, from last year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for CTL. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 2.56% higher. CTL currently has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Digging into valuation, CTL currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 9.72. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 29.83.

Investors should also note that CTL has a PEG ratio of 1.82 right now. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. The Wireless National industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 2.28 as of yesterday's close.

The Wireless National industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 166, which puts it in the bottom 35% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual 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.

Make sure to utilize Zacks. Com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.

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