Lockheed Martin (LMT) closed the most recent trading day at $486.49, moving -0.52% from the previous trading session. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.73%. On the other hand, the Dow registered a gain of 0.16%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq increased by 0.98%.

Heading into today, shares of the aerospace and defense company had lost 9.81% over the past month, lagging the Aerospace sector's loss of 2.61% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.34% in that time.

Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Lockheed Martin in its upcoming release. The company is forecasted to report an EPS of $6.57, showcasing a 16.84% downward movement from the corresponding quarter of the prior year. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $18.85 billion, showing a 0.12% drop compared to the year-ago quarter.

Regarding the entire year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates forecast earnings of $26.68 per share and revenue of $71.27 billion, indicating changes of -4.1% and +5.48%, respectively, compared to the previous year.

Furthermore, it would be beneficial for investors to monitor any recent shifts in analyst projections for Lockheed Martin. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the company's business health and profitability.

Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. To capitalize on this, we've crafted the Zacks Rank, a unique model that incorporates these estimate changes and offers a practical rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.55% lower within the past month. Lockheed Martin currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Lockheed Martin has a Forward P/E ratio of 18.33 right now. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 18.59, so one might conclude that Lockheed Martin is trading at a discount comparatively.

It is also worth noting that LMT currently has a PEG ratio of 4.03. 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. As the market closed yesterday, the Aerospace - Defense industry was having an average PEG ratio of 1.63.

The Aerospace - Defense industry is part of the Aerospace sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 149, placing it within the bottom 41% of over 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.

To follow LMT in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.

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