Friday - October 13, 2006
 Want to view the archive of past issues? Click here. Manage Profit from the Pros subscription: 1. ZACKS RANK BUY STOCKS Zacks #1 Ranked stocks average a 32.4% annual return. Every day on Zacks.com we highlight four new Zacks Rank Buy stocks. Each individual stock is chosen based on how well they match the criteria for the four main schools of investing: Aggressive Growth, Momentum, Growth & Income and Value.
Aggressive Growth – Evergreen Solar (ESLR) Evergreen Solar (ESLR) has exceeded earnings estimates in each of the past three quarters by an average of 20%. Two analysts have raised their numbers for this year while one has done so for next year. ESLR is still losing money, but next year's estimates have increased 12.5% to a loss of 14 cents per share over the past month. Read the full analysis on ESLR now! Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation (PVH), which was first presented as a Growth and Income pick on Jan 17, continues to beat analysts’ earnings expectations. In fact, it has done so for 12 consecutive quarters. Furthermore, consensus estimates continue to climb higher. As a result, the company is a Zacks #1 Rank stock. PVH raised its full-year earnings per share guidance in late August. The company’s return on equity more than triples that of the industry average. Read the full analysis on PVH now! More...
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Momentum – Smith & Wesson (SWHC) On Sep 9, Smith & Wesson (SWHC) reported earnings of eight cents per share, versus four cents last year. The surprise over analysts’ consensus estimates was 14%. Sales grew by 46% to $47.6 million while income rose 25% to $3.37 million. It was the company’s third straight positive earnings surprise quarter. Read the full analysis on SWHC now! Horace Mann Educators Corporation (HMN) exceeded analysts’ earnings expectations in eight out of the past 10 quarters, most recently by 28.9%. Solid results for the first half of 2006 prompted the company to boost its full-year earnings per share guidance. Consensus estimates have been trending higher for this Zacks #1 Rank stock. HMN has a price-to-book ratio of only 1.5, compared to 5.2 for the market. The company is currently yielding 2.2%. Read the full analysis on GRP now!
2. PROFIT TRACKS Zacks.com is proud to share with you some of the best trading
strategies that truly allow you to Profit from the Pros. Today
we highlight... Profit Tracks: Upgrades and Revisions This strategy focuses primarily on Positive EPS Estimate Revisions and Brokerage Rating Upgrades. Over the last 20 years Zacks Investment Research has proven that earnings estimate revisions are the most powerful force driving stock prices. Studies have also shown that stocks receiving upward EPS revisions tend to receive additional upward revisions in the future. Then consider that stocks receiving these upward revisions generally have brokers upgrading their Ratings, which is also a proven mover of stock prices. There are other parameters to this strategy, but the Rating Upgrades and positive EPS Revisions are the two powerful active ingredients. Here are four stocks that make the grade for the Upgrades and Revisions Profit Track: Dril-Quip, Inc. (DRQ) is a Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) company. DRQ reported second-quarter earnings per share of 49 cents, which surpassed the consensus of 44 cents by a solid 11%. In the prior-year period, the company posted profits of 19 cents per share. Total revenues increased approximately 35% to $108.5 million. DRQ satisfies the criteria for this Profit Track as evidenced by its earnings per share growth of 29% over the past five years. Continue your research on BW now! Energizer Holdings, Inc. (ENR) posted earnings per share of 82 cents for the third quarter, which ended June 30. This amounted to a 24% positive earnings surprise and a 22% year-over-year improvement. ENR beat the Street’s estimate in seven out of the past eight quarters. Sales rose to $734.9 million from $691.2 million a year ago. This Zacks #1 Rank stock experienced earnings per share growth of nearly 31% over the past five years. Continue your research on ENR now! Greif, Inc. (GEF) crushed the consensus earnings estimate for the third quarter by 32% with profits of $1.45 per share. Compared to the prior-year period, earnings soared 65%. Net sales came in at $690.5 million compared to $609.0 million in the third quarter of 2005. This Zacks #1 Rank stock raised its fiscal 2006 EPS guidance, which excludes special items, by 40 cents for its Class A common stock to between $4.25 and $4.35. GEF’s earnings per share growth over the past five years amounted to nearly 22%. Continue your research on GEF now! NATCO Group, Inc. (NTG) recently reported second-quarter earnings per share of 50 cents, which represented a new record for the company. The result easily surpassed the prior-year total of 16 cents and beat the consensus estimate by 22%. The Zacks #1 Rank stock upped its full-year profit guidance to between $1.75 and $1.85 per share. During the past five years, NTG’s earnings per share grew approximately 23%. Continue your research on NTG now! To see the full list of stocks that currently pass this winning screen, click here. All the Profit Track strategies were created and backtested using the Research Wizard software from Zacks Investment Research. If you like this screening strategy, but want to narrow down the list of stocks and even improve the performance, then you should start a free trial to this powerful stock picking tool. Learn more about the Research Wizard free trial offer and our new special report “Top 10 Stock Screening Strategies.” - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The Difference Between Good Stocks and Great Stocks With earnings season starting this week, Kevin Matras goes over two Screening Strategies that go beyond your ordinary earnings screens. More... 3. ZACKS EQUITY RESEARCH Though many financial institutions in both the U.S. and Europe have not begun to report quarterly earnings at this juncture, we thought it would be worthwhile to check the health of the U.K. and ex-U.K. finance companies. To do so, we asked a few questions of Zacks analyst Duong Vuong, CFA, who also covers other industries within Europe. Ahead of Q3 earnings, how are you expecting the companies in your coverage to perform? I expect the companies in my coverage to perform more or less in line with my general expectations. Diageo (DEO) has their annual meeting scheduled for next Tuesday the 17th, and last week Allianz AG (AZ) presented at the Merrill Lynch Banking & Insurance Conference, but my coverage will not report earnings in the very near future. But I expect no major surprises. More. . .
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - As the U.S. housing market continues to sag, is this having any negative effect on the European financial companies in your coverage? A sagging U.S. market affects companies such as banks, but I tend to cover more insurance companies based in Europe, such as Allianz and AXA (AXA). Banks have mortgage portfolios, so they are hit more directly by troubles in the housing market. Insurance companies are affected in some ways, but not as significantly as banks; some insurers do have banking divisions, though they tend to be small compared to the whole group. That said, yes, I do think there has been a slight strain on European financial companies in general based on the sagging U.S. housing market, inasmuch that an economic downturn in the U.S. would have a negative overall effect on the global economy, including Europe. The last time we spoke, you mentioned British Airways was performing better than had been expected. Is this continuing? Where do you feel the surprises might be this coming quarter? Yes, British Airways (BAB) is continuing to perform better than it had been previously, and its share price is nearly at its 52-week high. The reason for this is that oil prices have come down significantly over the last couple of months. As I explained in the last interview and even previous one to that, fuel costs are major for all airlines, and the reduction of this cost, via lower oil prices, can only help. What are your top Buys and Sells at this time? I still have Buy on Aegon (AEG), Allianz (AZ) and WPP Group (WPPGY). I think with the gains in the stock market over the past several weeks, equity portfolios for insurers such as Aegon and Allianz will increase in value. As for WPP, I still think that the U.S. is not set for a hard landing, so with the economy still reasonably strong, advertising revenues will hold up well. For investors considering increasing their exposure in the U.K. and E.U. markets, what advice would you give them? The U.K. and other European markets are still staying within relatively reasonable valuations, and we have seen that there have been increased M&A activities. We expect M&A to continue this way in the short term. I would recommend investors to be fully invested in the region, especially in the three Buy-recommended stocks within my coverage. Duong Vuong, CFA is a Zacks analyst covering the U.K. and ex-U.K. European regions in various industries. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Analyst Blog Real-time market insights from Zacks Equity Research Analysts. Stocks featured recently include Infosys (INFY), Vodafone (VOD), Tenneco (TEN) and Concur Technologies (CNQR). To see their latest posts, click here. Select Comfort - Impressive Growth Targets. For full Zacks research report, click here. Centennial Communications - Increased Risk. For full Zacks research report, click here. More Good News from Cable & Wire Companies Positive Early Third-Quarter Reports Find out which stocks have been recently upgraded by Zacks Equity Research: click here. Read the reports on all of the stocks on the Zacks Equity Research Buy List: click here.
4. FEATURED EXPERTS Here we cast the spotlight on timely Featured Expert commentaries that recently appeared on Zacks.com.
Gregory Spear discusses some of the stocks that make up the Dow Jones 30 Industrials. Learn about the trends he sees. More...
Jim Collins believes the current market's upside potential outweighs the downside risk for investors who do their homework. More...
Mutual Fund expert Dennis Slothower thinks this is becoming a dangerous market and capital preservation should not be ignored. More... OTHER TOOLS FROM ZACKS At the heart of Zacks Investment Research is the Zacks Rank investment philosophy that continues to vastly outperform the market. Our Zacks #1 Ranked (Strong Buys) have produced the following results for investors:
And just as importantly, the Zacks #5 Rank stocks (Strong Sell) List has alerted investors as to which stocks to dump from Their portfolios to avoid unnecessary losses. To truly take advantage of the Zacks Rank, you need to first understand how it works. That's why we created the free special report: "Zacks Rank Guide: Harnessing the Power of Earnings Estimate Revisions". Download a free copy now to prosper in the years to come. Or view the full list of Zacks #1 Ranked stocks. FREE PORTFOLIO TRACKER Do you believe that these events affect stock prices?
If you answered yes, then how are you staying on top of these changes for your stocks? If you are one of the 45,000 investors who wake up every morning to the Daily Portfolio Updates emails from Zacks.com, then you are all set. If not, then sign up now to get this vital information sent to you daily to help take definitive action to improve your portfolio's performance. Did we mention it's free? Get started now! We hope you enjoyed this issue of "Profit from the Pros", And we look forward to visiting with you again next week. REFER-A-FRIEND If you enjoy this e-mail newsletter, then please pass it along to a friend. Simply forward them the link below to sign up for their own free subscription. If you're reading a forwarded copy, sign up for your own, so you get this wealth of information every week. Just click here. THANKS! Regards and Happy Investing, Charles Rotblut, CFA p.s. What is the mission for Zacks Profit from the Pros? Click here to find out how we will help you become a more successful investor. The Zacks Performance Rank performance is the total return of equal weighted simulated portfolios consisting of those stocks with the indicated Zacks Rank net of fees. Results reflect the reinvestment of dividends and other earnings. Simulated results do not represent actual trading and may not reflect the impact that economic and market factors might have had on decision-making if an adviser were actually managing a client's money. The S&P 500 Index is a well-known, unmanaged index of the prices of 500 large-company common stocks, mainly blue-chip stocks, selected by Standard & Poor's. The S&P 500 Index assumes reinvestment of dividends but does not reflect advisory fees. An investor cannot invest directly in an index. Disclaimer: Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investors should always research companies and securities before making any investments. Nothing herein should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security. To contact us by mail: Zacks Investment Research To unsubscribe from receiving "Profit from the Pros" e-mail newsletter, click here. | |||||||||
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Zacks #1 Stocks on the Move 06/19/2013
| Company Name | Symbol | %Change |
|---|---|---|
| SONIC FOUNDR | SOFO | 4.40% |
| SUPPORTCOM I | SPRT | 3.75% |
| UNISYS CORP | UIS | 3.31% |
| SHORETEL INC | SHOR | 3.22% |
| GREEN MOUNTA | GMCR | 3.13% |
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