In the latest trading session, AT&T (NYSE:T) closed at $30.56, marking a -0.13% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.22%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.59%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.16%.
Heading into today, shares of the telecommunications company had gained 2.86% over the past month, outpacing the Computer and Technology sector's loss of 0.37% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.49% in that time.
Investors will be hoping for strength from T as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be January 30, 2019. In that report, analysts expect T to post earnings of $0.85 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 8.97%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $48.42 billion, up 16.19% from the year-ago period.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for T should also be noted by investors. 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.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, 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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.06% higher within the past month. T is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.
Looking at its valuation, T is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 8.48. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 23.28, which means T is trading at a discount to the group.
Investors should also note that T has a PEG ratio of 1.34 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 was holding an average PEG ratio of 2.08 at yesterday's closing price.
The Wireless National industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 74, putting it in the top 29% 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.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.
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