Fortinet (FTNT) closed at $76.57 in the latest trading session, marking a +1.88% move from the prior day. This move outpaced the S&P 500’s daily gain of 0.86%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.06%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 1.37%.
Coming into today, shares of the network security company had gained 7.86% in the past month. In that same time, the Computer and Technology sector gained 6.94%, while the S&P 500 gained 8.11%.
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from FTNT as it approaches its next earnings report date. This is expected to be February 6, 2019. In that report, analysts expect FTNT to post earnings of $0.51 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 59.38%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $495.54 million, up 18.93% from the year-ago period.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for FTNT. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company’s business outlook.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. 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.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection remained stagnant. FTNT is currently a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking at its valuation, FTNT is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 37.78. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry’s average Forward P/E of 45.38.
Also, we should mention that FTNT has a PEG ratio of 2.26. 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 Security was holding an average PEG ratio of 2.26 at yesterday’s closing price.
The Security industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 24, which puts it in the top 10% 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.
To follow FTNT in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.
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