Accenture (NYSE:ACN) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.05 EPS

Key Points

• Accenture reported earnings per share (EPS) of $3.03 for the quarter, exceeding estimates by $0.05, with revenue reaching $17.60 billion.
• The company increased its quarterly dividend from $1.48 to $1.63 per share, representing a 2.7% dividend yield.
• Accenture has also updated its FY 2026 EPS guidance to between $13.190 and $13.570.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The information technology services provider reported $3.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.98 by $0.05, Zacks reports. Accenture had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 26.55%. The company had revenue of $17.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.66 earnings per share. Accenture updated its FY 2026 guidance to 13.190-13.570 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance to EPS.

Accenture Trading Up 1.6%

NYSE:ACN opened at $239.29 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $255.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $287.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $149.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.29. Accenture has a 1-year low of $234.10 and a 1-year high of $398.35.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. This is a positive change from Accenture's previous quarterly dividend of $1.48. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Accenture's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ACN shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their target price on shares of Accenture from $250.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Rothschild Redb downgraded Accenture from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Accenture from $325.00 to $271.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Accenture from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Accenture from $342.00 to $313.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $321.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Accenture news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 2,251 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.45, for a total value of $635,794.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 8,109 shares in the company, valued at $2,290,387.05. This trade represents a 21.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Angela Beatty sold 203 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.34, for a total transaction of $57,315.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,249 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,482,002.66. This represents a 3.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,954 shares of company stock worth $834,280 over the last ninety days. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Accenture

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Accenture by 235.8% during the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 24,121 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $7,210,000 after acquiring an additional 16,938 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Advisors MI boosted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 104.2% during the second quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI now owns 2,030 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $601,000 after purchasing an additional 1,036 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its stake in Accenture by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 797,545 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $238,571,000 after buying an additional 23,310 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in Accenture by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 17,365 shares of the information technology services provider's stock valued at $5,190,000 after buying an additional 722 shares during the period. Finally, MUFG Securities EMEA plc acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture during the 2nd quarter valued at $553,000. 75.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Accenture Company Profile

Accenture plc, a professional services company, provides strategy and consulting, industry X, song, and technology and operation services worldwide. The company offers application services, including agile transformation, DevOps, application modernization, enterprise architecture, software and quality engineering, data management; intelligent automation comprising robotic process automation, natural language processing, and virtual agents; and application management services, as well as software engineering services; strategy and consulting services; data and analytics strategy, data discovery and augmentation, data management and beyond, data democratization, and industrialized solutions comprising turnkey analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions; metaverse; and sustainability services.

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