Paycom Software (PAYC – Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $302.95, moving -1.46% from the previous trading session. This change lagged the S&P 500’s daily loss of 0.38%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.27%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 4.19%.
Prior to today’s trading, shares of the maker of human-resources and payroll software had gained 14.4% over the past month. This has outpaced the Computer and Technology sector’s gain of 11.14% and the S&P 500’s gain of 3.78% in that time.
Paycom Software will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect Paycom Software to post earnings of $1.60 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 26.98%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $398.19 million, up 25.64% from the year-ago period.
For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $7.69 per share and revenue of $1.71 billion, which would represent changes of +25.24% and +24.66%, respectively, from the prior year.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Paycom Software. 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.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. 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 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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 1.38% higher. Paycom Software currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
In terms of valuation, Paycom Software is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 39.97. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 42.7, which means Paycom Software is trading at a discount to the group.
Also, we should mention that PAYC has a PEG ratio of 1.6. 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. The Internet – Software was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.77 at yesterday’s closing price.
The Internet – Software industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 107, which puts it in the top 43% 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.
Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.