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CenturyLink (CTL) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know

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CenturyLink closed the most recent trading day at $11.87, moving -0.08% from the previous trading session. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.88% gain on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.55%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 1.32%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the communications company had lost 1.16% over the past month. This has lagged the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 5% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.96% in that time.

CTL will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be May 8, 2019. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.28, up 12% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $5.73 billion, down 3.64% 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 $22.73 billion. These totals would mark changes of +4.2% and -3.63%, 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 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 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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.45% lower within the past month. CTL is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that CTL has a Forward P/E ratio of 9.59 right now. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 35.53.

Meanwhile, CTL's PEG ratio is currently 0.76. 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. Wireless National stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.72 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Wireless National industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 154, which puts it in the bottom 40% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order 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.

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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