The latest trading session saw Schlumberger (SLB) ending at $41.53, denoting a -0.5% adjustment from its last day's close. The stock performed in line with S&P 500. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.08%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 1.21%.

Heading into today, shares of the world's largest oilfield services company had lost 1.21% over the past month, outpacing the Oils-Energy sector's loss of 5.13% and lagging the S&P 500's loss of 0.47% in that time.

Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Schlumberger in its upcoming release. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.74, down 1.33% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $8.63 billion, down 0.84% from the year-ago period.

For the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $3.38 per share and a revenue of $38.63 billion, representing changes of -0.88% and +6.45%, respectively, from the prior year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Schlumberger. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the company's business health and profitability.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. 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 varies between #1 (Strong Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), carries an impressive track record of exceeding expectations, confirmed by external audits, with stocks at #1 delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has witnessed a 0.85% decrease. Schlumberger is currently a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

From a valuation perspective, Schlumberger is currently exchanging hands at a Forward P/E ratio of 12.35. This denotes a discount relative to the industry's average Forward P/E of 13.89.

Investors should also note that SLB has a PEG ratio of 9.88 right now. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. By the end of yesterday's trading, the Oil and Gas - Field Services industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.57.

The Oil and Gas - Field Services industry is part of the Oils-Energy sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 194, which puts it in the bottom 23% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank evaluates the power of our distinct industry groups by determining the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks forming the groups. 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.

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Schlumberger Limited (SLB) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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

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