ACN Stock Study (5-19-26)

Posted by Mark on May 19, 2026 at 07:35 | Last modified: May 19, 2026 10:14

I recently did a stock study on Accenture PLC (ACN, $177.55).

M* writes:

     > Accenture is a leading IT services firm that provides consulting,
     > system integration, and business process outsourcing to
     > enterprises around the world. Customers of Accenture come
     > from a variety of sectors, including communications, media
     > and technology, financial services, health and public
     > services, consumer products, and resources. Accenture is the
     > world’s largest professional services company by headcount,
     > with around 800,000 employees in over 120 countries.

Over the past decade, this mega-size company (revenue over $50B/year) grows sales and EPS at annualized rates of 8.6% and 9.4%, respectively (fiscal year ends Aug 31). Lines are up, straight, and parallel except for EPS dip in ’17. Value Line (VL) gives an Earnings Predictability score of 100. Shares outstanding decrease 5.3% (0.6%/year).

Over the past decade, PTPM leads peer and industry averages while ranging from 12.6% in ’17 to 15.4% in ’21 with a last-5-year mean of 14.8%. ROE leads peer and industry averages despite falling from 56.2% to 24.7% (’25) with a last-5-year mean of 27.8% (shareholder equity consistently positive and increasing with mean 17.1%/year). Debt-to-Capital is less than peer and industry averages despite increasing from 0.4% to 20.8% (’25) with a last-5-year mean of 14.5%.

Quick Ratio is 1.2 and Interest Coverage 40.8 per M* who assigns “Narrow” Economic Moat, “Standard” rating for Capital Allocation, and a B grade for Financial Health (per BetterInvesting® website). VL rates the company A+ for Financial Strength.

With regard to sales growth:

• YF gives YOY ACE 6.3% and 5.3% for ’26 and ’27 (based on 27 analysts).
• Zacks gives YOY ACE 6.4% and 5.4% for ’26 and ’27, respectively (7 analysts).
• VL projects 5.9% per year from ’25-’30.
• CFRA projects 6.6% YOY and 6.3% per year for ’26 and ’25-’27, respectively.
• M* gives 2-year ACE of 5.8% per year and projects 5-year annualized 5.0% in Equity Report.

My 5.0% annualized forecast is at bottom of the range.

With regard to EPS growth:

• MarketWatch gives ACE 4.1% and 8.1% per year for ’25-’27 and ’25-’28, respectively (based on 30 analysts).
• Nasdaq.com gives ACE 7.9% YOY and 7.3% per year for ’27 and ’26-’28 (10 / 10 / 5 analysts for ’26 / ’27 / ’28).
• Seeking Alpha projects 4-year annualized of 7.1%.
• Finviz gives ACE 5-year annualized of 7.9% (11).
• Argus projects 5-year annualized of 10.0%.
• LSEG projects LTG of 7.6%.
• YF gives YOY ACE 7.3% and 7.4% for ’26 and ’27, respectively (26).
• Zacks gives YOY ACE 7.3% and 7.9% for ’26 and ’27, respectively, and 5-year annualized of 7.6% (10).
• VL projects 5.6% annualized from ’25-’30.
• CFRA projects 8.0% YOY and 8.9% per year for ’26 and ’25-’27 along with 3-year CAGR of 9.0%.
• M* gives ACE long-term 9.5%/year and projects 9.5% annualized from ’25-’30 in Equity Report.

My 5.0% forecast is below the long-term-estimate range (mean of eight: 8.1%). Initial value is ’25 EPS of $12.15/share rather than 2026 Q2 EPS of $12.21 (TTM).

My Forecast High P/E is 24.0. Over the past 10 years, high P/E increases from 18.7 to 32.8 (’25) with a last-5-year mean of 34.6 and last-5-year-mean average P/E of 28.7. I am near bottom of the range (only ’16 is less).

My Forecast Low P/E is 11.0. Over the past 10 years, low P/E increases from 14.2 to 19.5 (’25) with a last-5-year mean of 22.8. I am forecasting below the range.

My Low Stock Price Forecast (LSPF) of $133.70 is default based on initial value from above: 24.7% less than previous close and 14.2% less than the 52-week low.

Over the past 10 years, Payout Ratio (PR) increases from 34.1% to 48.7% (’25) with a last-5-year mean of 42.0%. I am forecasting below the range at 34.0%.

These inputs land ACN in the BUY zone with a U/D ratio of 4.4. Total Annualized Return (TAR) is 17.4%.

PAR (using Forecast Average—not High—P/E) of 10.8% is decent for a large-size company. If a healthy margin of safety (MOS) anchors the study, then I can proceed based on TAR instead.

To assess MOS, I start by comparing my inputs with Member Sentiment (MS). Based on 105 studies done in the past 90 days (43 outliers including mine excluded), averages (lower of mean/median) for projected sales growth, projected EPS growth, Forecast High P/E, Forecast Low P/E, and PR are 5.7%, 7.9%, 28.0, 19.8, and 41.7% respectively. I am lower across the board. VL projects a future average P/E of 23.5 that is less than MS (23.9) and much greater than mine (17.5).

MS high / low EPS are $17.85 / $12.07 versus my $15.51 / $12.15 (per share). My high EPS is less due to a lower growth rate. VL (M*) high EPS of $17.00 ($19.13) is in the middle (greater).

MS LSPF of $173.20 implies a Forecast Low P/E of 14.3: less than the above-stated 19.8. MS LSPF is 27.5% less than the default $12.07/share * 19.8 = $238.99 resulting in more conservative zoning. MS LSPF still exceeds mine by 29.5%, however.

MOS is robust in the study because my inputs are near or less than historical/analyst/MS averages/ranges. Also supportive of the MOS is MS TAR exceeding mine by 5.2% per year and my substantially lower LSPF.

With regard to valuation, PEG is 1.7 and 2.8 per Zacks and my projected P/E, respectively: overvalued (M* has 1.9). Relative Value [(current P/E) / 5-year-mean average P/E] is quite low at 0.51. “Quick and Dirty” DCF method has stock undervalued by 32% and M* reports stock at a 30% discount.

Per U/D, ACN is a BUY right now (under $193/share). Given a forecast high price ~$372, BetterInvesting® TAR criterion is met [372.2 / ((13.47 / 100 ) +1 ) ^ 5] ~ $198.

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