Legg Mason (LM) closed the most recent trading day at $46.63, moving -0.15% from the previous trading session. This change was narrower than the S&P 500's daily loss of 4.34%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 4.55%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 3.79%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the money manager had lost 7.45% over the past month. This has was narrower than the Finance sector's loss of 34.83% and the S&P 500's loss of 28.78% in that time.
LM will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.92, up 31.43% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $738.17 million, up 6.58% from the year-ago period.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $3.67 per share and revenue of $2.93 billion. These totals would mark changes of +1065.79% and +0.95%, respectively, from last year.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for LM. 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.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 2.01% lower. LM is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Looking at its valuation, LM is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 12.74. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 6.63, so we one might conclude that LM is trading at a premium comparatively.
It is also worth noting that LM currently has a PEG ratio of 1.11. 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. LM's industry had an average PEG ratio of 0.69 as of yesterday's close.
The Financial - Investment Management industry is part of the Finance sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 147, putting it in the bottom 43% 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.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
Legg Mason, Inc. (LM): Free Stock Analysis Report
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