Dow Inc. (DOW) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know

Dow Inc. (DOW) closed at $42.63 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.61% move from the prior day. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.06% gain on the day. At the same time, the Dow added 0.16%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.13%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the materials science had lost 9.56% over the past month. This has lagged the Basic Materials sector's loss of 7.92% and the S&P 500's loss of 2.95% in that time.

DOW will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for DOW 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.

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. DOW currently has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).

Investors should also note DOW's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 12.56. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 12.84, so we one might conclude that DOW is trading at a discount comparatively.

Also, we should mention that DOW has a PEG ratio of 3.43. 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. Chemical - Diversified stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.03 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Chemical - Diversified industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 225, which puts it in the bottom 13% 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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