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Atlantic Power (AT) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, Atlantic Power closed at $2.30, marking a +0.44% move from the previous day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.05%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 1.02%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 1.66%.

Coming into today, shares of the utility had lost 1.29% in the past month. In that same time, the Utilities sector gained 2.84%, while the S&P 500 lost 2.76%.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from AT as it approaches its next earnings report date. In that report, analysts expect AT to post earnings of $0.04 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 166.67%.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $0.24 per share and revenue of $288 million. These totals would mark changes of +50% and +2.02%, respectively, from last year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for AT. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. 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.

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 118.18% higher within the past month. AT currently has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

In terms of valuation, AT is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 9.54. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 20.35.

The Utility - Electric Power industry is part of the Utilities sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 157, putting it in the bottom 39% 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.

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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