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Is Now The Time To Look At Buying Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)?

Today we're going to take a look at the well-established Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN). The company's stock led the NYSE gainers with a relatively large price hike in the past couple of weeks. With many analysts covering the large-cap stock, we may expect any price-sensitive announcements have already been factored into the stock’s share price. However, what if the stock is still a bargain? Let’s examine Accenture’s valuation and outlook in more detail to determine if there’s still a bargain opportunity.

View our latest analysis for Accenture

What is Accenture worth?

According to my valuation model, the stock is currently overvalued by about 39%, trading at US$230 compared to my intrinsic value of $165.17. This means that the opportunity to buy Accenture at a good price has disappeared! But, is there another opportunity to buy low in the future? Given that Accenture’s share is fairly volatile (i.e. its price movements are magnified relative to the rest of the market) this could mean the price can sink lower, giving us another chance to buy in the future. This is based on its high beta, which is a good indicator for share price volatility.

What does the future of Accenture look like?

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Investors looking for growth in their portfolio may want to consider the prospects of a company before buying its shares. Buying a great company with a robust outlook at a cheap price is always a good investment, so let’s also take a look at the company's future expectations. With profit expected to grow by a double-digit 20% over the next couple of years, the outlook is positive for Accenture. It looks like higher cash flow is on the cards for the stock, which should feed into a higher share valuation.

What this means for you:

Are you a shareholder? It seems like the market has well and truly priced in ACN’s positive outlook, with shares trading above its fair value. At this current price, shareholders may be asking a different question – should I sell? If you believe ACN should trade below its current price, selling high and buying it back up again when its price falls towards its real value can be profitable. But before you make this decision, take a look at whether its fundamentals have changed.

Are you a potential investor? If you’ve been keeping an eye on ACN for a while, now may not be the best time to enter into the stock. The price has surpassed its true value, which means there’s no upside from mispricing. However, the optimistic prospect is encouraging for ACN, which means it’s worth diving deeper into other factors in order to take advantage of the next price drop.

Since timing is quite important when it comes to individual stock picking, it's worth taking a look at what those latest analysts forecasts are. So feel free to check out our free graph representing analyst forecasts.

If you are no longer interested in Accenture, you can use our free platform to see our list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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