Sterling Infrastructure (strl) Exceeds Market Returns: Some Facts To Consider

The most recent trading session ended with Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) standing at $116.70, reflecting a +0.83% shift from the previouse trading day's closing. The stock's change was more than the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.49%. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.2%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 1.22%.

Shares of the civil construction company have depreciated by 20.11% over the course of the past month, underperforming the Construction sector's loss of 9.25% and the S&P 500's loss of 8.15%.

The upcoming earnings release of Sterling Infrastructure will be of great interest to investors. The company is forecasted to report an EPS of $1.28, showcasing a 28% upward movement from the corresponding quarter of the prior year. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $415.6 million, showing a 5.62% drop compared to the year-ago quarter.

Looking at the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $7.35 per share and revenue of $2.03 billion. These totals would mark changes of +20.49% and -4.08%, respectively, from last year.

Additionally, investors should keep an eye on any recent revisions to analyst forecasts for Sterling Infrastructure. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the company's business operations and its ability to generate profits.

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.

The Zacks Rank system, running from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), holds an admirable track record of superior performance, independently audited, with #1 stocks contributing an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has witnessed a 13.7% increase. Currently, Sterling Infrastructure is carrying a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

In terms of valuation, Sterling Infrastructure is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 15.76. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 16.32.

We can also see that STRL currently has a PEG ratio of 1.05. 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 average PEG ratio for the Engineering - R and D Services industry stood at 1.21 at the close of the market yesterday.

The Engineering - R and D Services industry is part of the Construction sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 146, putting it in the bottom 42% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our 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.

Keep in mind to rely on Zacks.com to watch all these stock-impacting metrics, and more, in the succeeding trading sessions.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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