Agilent Technologies (A) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know

Agilent Technologies (A) closed the most recent trading day at $132.64, moving +0.94% from the previous trading session. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.2% loss on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.14%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.12%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the scientific instrument maker had gained 1.63% over the past month. This has outpaced the Computer and Technology sector's loss of 4.64% and the S&P 500's loss of 3.29% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from Agilent Technologies as it approaches its next earnings release. On that day, Agilent Technologies is projected to report earnings of $1.39 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 14.88%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $1.77 billion, up 6.43% from the year-ago period.

A's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $5.07 per share and revenue of $6.77 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +16.82% and +7.07%, respectively.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Agilent Technologies. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of 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. 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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month. Agilent Technologies currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Investors should also note Agilent Technologies's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 25.9. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 21.95.

Investors should also note that A has a PEG ratio of 2.59 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. The Electronics - Testing Equipment was holding an average PEG ratio of 2.47 at yesterday's closing price.

The Electronics - Testing Equipment industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 97, putting it in the top 39% 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.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.

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