3 Stocks for Strength & Value

Looking for ideas about where to put fresh cash in the market? Consider a stock screen that looks for a combination of solid fundamentals and value. Below is a snapshot of Tuesday morning's Discount Fundamental Strength, a Zacks Premium Screen.

This screen identifies stocks with strong underlying fundamentals and low valuations. These are companies with solid balance sheets, and a history of profitability that are reasonably priced. Although conservative in approach, this strategy has proven to be a solid out performer in the past.

Fourteen companies surfaced from this screen, with the top three results shown merely by virtue of alphabetical order. But three interesting names they are...

AGCO CORP (AGCO - Analyst Report) is engaged in the manufacturer and distribution of farm equipment, machinery and replacement parts in the United States and Canada. Products include tractors, combines, hay tools and forage equipment and implements.

This $4.2 billion company has a forward P/E multiple of under 10 times and is projected to grow earnings at 20%. In the last four quarters, they have delivered an earnings surprise with an average 42.5% beat. As a solid, growing company making equipment for the global agricultural megatrend, this one may offer opportunities as an alternative to Deere (DE - Analyst Report) and CNH Global (CNH - Snapshot Report).

AAR Corp (AIR - Analyst Report) is a worldwide leader in supplying aftermarket products and services to the global aerospace/aviation industry. It provides aircraft, engines and engine parts; airframe and accessories products; overhaul, repair and maintenance services and company-manufactured products to customers in all segments of this industry, including the world's largest commercial airlines and air cargo operators.

AAR has a market cap below $800 million and with expected earnings growth of 15%, sales growth of 11%, and forward multiple of just under 10 times, this is a small cap value worth looking at.

FedEx (FDX - Analyst Report) needs no introduction, but it is worth noting that since they offer customers a one-stop source for global shipping, logistics and supply chain solutions, they are just as much an information-technology company as IBM (IBM - Analyst Report), Visa (V - Analyst Report), or Amazon (AMZN - Analyst Report).

The $26 billion enterprise is trading at 13 times forward earnings, which are expected to grow at 15%. Their growth, as one of the top two shipping companies in the world, will likely continue as the developing world finds more need for their services.

Be sure to check out more of the dozens of pre-set Premium Screens at Zacks. Putting some quantitative rigor under your next investment idea is always a good strategy.

Kevin Cook is a Senior Stock Strategist with Zacks.com

Read the full analyst report on DE

Read the full analyst report on AGCO

Read the full analyst report on AIR

Read the full analyst report on FDX

Read the full analyst report on AMZN