Visa (V) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know

Visa (V) closed at $182.01 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.14% move from the prior day. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.29%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.11%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.44%.

Heading into today, shares of the global payments processor had gained 1.4% over the past month, lagging the Business Services sector's gain of 2.98% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.51% in that time.

V will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.47, up 13.08% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $6.06 billion, up 10.02% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $6.21 per share and revenue of $25.46 billion. These totals would mark changes of +14.15% and +10.81%, respectively, from last year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for V. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-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. 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. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.11% lower. V currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Investors should also note V's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 29.37. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 24.47, so we one might conclude that V is trading at a premium comparatively.

Also, we should mention that V has a PEG ratio of 1.91. 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. V's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.78 as of yesterday's close.

The Financial Transaction Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 53, putting it in the top 21% 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.

To follow V in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.

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