Yahoo Finance Costco (COST) Stock Moves -1.39%: What You Should Know
Costco (COST) closed at $221.05 in the latest trading session, marking a -1.39% move from the prior day. This change was narrower than the S&P 500's 3.29% loss on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 3.15%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 4.08%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the warehouse club operator had lost 8.21% over the past month. This has lagged the Retail-Wholesale sector's loss of 6.44% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.44% in that time.
COST will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be December 13, 2018. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.60, up 17.65% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $34.14 billion, up 7.31% from the year-ago period.
COST's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $7.69 per share and revenue of $151.63 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +12.59% and +7.1%, respectively.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for COST. 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.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. 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. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.41% lower. COST is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.
In terms of valuation, COST is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 29.16. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 22.72.
Investors should also note that COST has a PEG ratio of 2.86 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. The Retail - Discount Stores was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.67 at yesterday's closing price.
The Retail - Discount Stores industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 21, which puts it in the top 8% 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.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
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Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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