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Walmart (WMT) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know

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Walmart (WMT - Free Report) closed at $115.25 in the latest trading session, marking a -1.03% move from the prior day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.73% gain on the day. At the same time, the Dow added 0.6%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 1.13%.

Heading into today, shares of the world's largest retailer had lost 0.78% over the past month, lagging the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 2.21% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.95% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from WMT as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be February 18, 2020. On that day, WMT is projected to report earnings of $1.44 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 2.13%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $142.66 billion, up 2.78% from the year-ago period.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for WMT. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-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. 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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant. WMT is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Looking at its valuation, WMT is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 22.39. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 13.38.

Investors should also note that WMT has a PEG ratio of 4.52 right now. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. WMT's industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.54 as of yesterday's close.

The Retail - Supermarkets industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 63, putting it in the top 25% 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.

To follow WMT in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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