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Walmart (WMT) Stock Moves -0.23%: What You Should Know

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Walmart (WMT - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $128.01, moving -0.23% from the previous trading session. This change was narrower than the S&P 500's 0.52% loss on the day. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.13%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.4%.

Heading into today, shares of the world's largest retailer had gained 11.38% over the past month, lagging the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 17.23% and the S&P 500's gain of 13.35% in that time.

WMT will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be May 19, 2020. On that day, WMT is projected to report earnings of $1.16 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 2.65%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $129.48 billion, up 4.48% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $5.11 per share and revenue of $542.49 billion, which would represent changes of +3.65% and +3.54%, respectively, from the prior year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for WMT should also be noted by investors. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. 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.

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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.53% higher. WMT currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In terms of valuation, WMT is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 25.11. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 12.02, which means WMT is trading at a premium to the group.

Investors should also note that WMT has a PEG ratio of 5.08 right now. 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. WMT's industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.39 as of yesterday's close.

The Retail - Supermarkets industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 22, putting it in the top 9% 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.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.


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