Accenture Bags Order From Federal Agencies for $112M

Accenture Federal Services, a subsidiary of global professional services giant Accenture (ACN), has bagged a $112 million order from the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to provide safety against cyberattacks. The subsidiary will provide this service to the Federal Civilian Executive Branch.

Shares of Accenture declined 1.2% in Friday’s trading session, however, they recovered slightly in the extended trading session to close at $282.

The primary service provided by the subsidiary will be protection against ransomware, botnets, and malware campaigns.

Aaron Faulkner, Accenture Federal Services managing director, said, “Now, more than ever, it is crucial for our nation to move from a ‘detect and respond’ to a ‘predict and prevent’ model for dealing with cyberattacks. Our solution delivers a whole-of-government view of the threats we face as a nation. Accenture Federal Services is excited to build upon our track record of delivering highly complex cyber solutions at scale.” (See Accenture’s stock chart on TipRanks)

Recently, BofA Securities analyst Jason Kupferberg reiterated a Buy rating on the stock with a price target of $300 (6.7% upside potential).

According to Kupferberg, “Given the strength of industry demand trends and what we believe remained a conservative outlook last quarter, we anticipate ACN will again deliver both top and bottom-line upside in F3Q (BofA/Street are modeling revs/EPS of $12.86B/$2.30 and $12.78B/$2.24, respectively, and guidance is for revs of $12.55B-$12.95B), while also raising F21 guidance (which currently calls for const-curr revs growth of 6.5-8.5% and EPS of $8.32-$8.50). While this outcome is likely anticipated to some extent, we believe the print could still be a positive catalyst.”

Consensus among analysts is a Strong Buy based on 7 Buys and 1 Hold. The Accenture average analyst price target of $309 implies upside potential of 9.9% from current levels. Shares of the company have gained 38.8% over the past year.