In the latest trading session, Encana (ECA) closed at $4.62, marking a -1.28% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500’s 0.24% loss on the day. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.3%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.58%.
Heading into today, shares of the energy company had gained 8.33% over the past month, lagging the Oils-Energy sector’s gain of 8.47% and outpacing the S&P 500’s gain of 4.96% in that time.
Investors will be hoping for strength from ECA as it approaches its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.16, down 5.88% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $1.75 billion, up 38.28% from the year-ago period.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $0.60 per share and revenue of $6.47 billion. These totals would mark changes of -30.23% and +8.99%, respectively, from last year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for ECA. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company’s business and profitability.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. 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 4.11% lower. ECA currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Investors should also note ECA’s current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 7.86. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 9.41, so we one might conclude that ECA is trading at a discount comparatively.
Meanwhile, ECA’s PEG ratio is currently 1.36. 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. Oil and Gas – Exploration and Production – Canadian stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.47 based on yesterday’s closing prices.
The Oil and Gas – Exploration and Production – Canadian industry is part of the Oils-Energy sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 65, which puts it in the top 26% 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 ECA in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.
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