Friday - February 23, 2007
 Want to view the archive of past issues? Click here. Manage Profit from the Pros subscription: 1. ZACKS RANK BUY STOCKS Zacks #1 Rank stocks average a 31.8% 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 – Wellcare Health Plans, Inc. (WCG) As a result of Wellcare Health Plans’ (WCG) strong quarter, earnings estimates have been on the upswing. Over the past week, this year's estimates have jumped 21 cents to $4.11 per share. WCG has beaten analyst expectations for 10 straight quarters, with seven of them posting double-digit surprises. Four analysts have raised their forecasts for the current year. Read the full analysis on WCG now! Union Pacific Corporation (UNP) exceeded analysts’ earnings expectations for the past 10 quarters. Financial results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2006 were solid. Analysts have upped their profit forecasts for both this year and next. The Board of Directors recently authorized a share repurchase program and raised its quarterly dividend by 17% to 35 cents per share. UNP is currently yielding 1.2%. Read the full analysis on UNP now! On Feb 14, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (SBGI) reported fourth-quarter earnings at nine cents per share. Revenues jumped 10.8% to $198.1 million from $178.8 million. Read the full analysis on SBGI now! Omega Healthcare Investors, Inc. (OHI) recently reported solid results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2006. The consensus estimate for this year has risen over the past 30 days. The Board of Directors recently boosted its quarterly cash dividend by a penny to 26 cents per common share of stock. This Zacks #1 Rank stock has a price-to-book ratio of 3.3, compared to 4.9 for the market. Read the full analysis on AGII 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: Growth and Income This screen looks for stocks that are paying dividend yields of greater than 8% along with other attractive fundamental attributes. Although this screen is based on a long-term and lower risk approach to investing, it has a history of outperforming the S&P 500. Crystal River Capital, Inc. (CRZ) declared a quarterly dividend of 66 cents per share in mid-December. In early November, CRZ announced third-quarter results, stating that it continues to seek investment opportunities with a particular focus on commercial real estate debt that will allow it to achieve its targeted portfolio allocation and maximize value for shareholders. Crystal River Capital offers a current dividend yield of 9.85%. Continue your research on CRZ now! Deerfield Triarc Capital Corp. (DFR) satisfies the criteria for this Profit Track with a current dividend yield of 9.96%. In mid-December, the company declared a dividend of 42 cents per share for the fourth quarter, up from the third-quarter dividend of 40 cents. DFR reported third-quarter earnings of 38 cents per share in mid-November, surpassing last year's 27 cents and exceeding the consensus estimate by almost 3%. Continue your research on DFR now! Diana Shipping Inc. (DSX), a Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) company, recently released its report for the fourth quarter. DSX said it believes that its strategy of expanding its fleet, while maintaining a flexible chartering policy that permits the company to benefit from the dynamic nature of the freight market, has driven Diana Shipping’s strong results and enabled it to continue increasing its dividend for the fourth to 46 cents per share. The company’s current dividend yield stands at 8.43%. Continue your research on DSX now! MCG Capital Corporation (MCGC) has a current dividend yield of 8.25%. The company will announce fourth-quarter results on February 27, 2007. In late October, the company posted third-quarter earnings of 42 cents per share, eclipsing the year-prior total of 34 cents and surpassing analysts' expectations of 37 cents. MCGC exceeded analysts’ expectations each time over the past four consecutive quarters. Continue your research on MCGC 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”. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Kevin Matras goes over a new screening strategy. More... 3. ZACKS EQUITY RESEARCH As fourth quarter earnings season heads to the back-nine and forecasts for 2007 and 2008 take shape, we wanted to address some macro issues with the Director of Equity Research, Dirk van Dijk, CFA. Dirk, where do you think we are in terms of a housing bubble? Since total housing starts broke above the 1.5 million level in the mid 1990’s, the homeownership rate increased to 69.0% the U.S., compared to a relatively stable 65.0%.(with some fluctuation on either side recorded for the 1975–1995 time frame. We would point out that homeownership began to rise to 67.4% in 2000 from 64.7% in 1995 and peaked at 69.1% in the first quarter of 2005. While it is clearly healthy for the society to have more people owning homes, it is hard to argue that there is a huge pent-up demand for housing. Now it is quite possible the rate of decline will slow in coming months, but it seems unlikely the decline is over. We had a slight up-tick in housing starts in November and December, but that was more than reversed by a huge plunge in January to a level of 1.4 million starts. That was the lowest rate in over a decade. More. . .
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Clearly 2004–2005 was the best of times for the housing industry. Not only were levels of housing starts and sales high, but foreclosures rates were low. Clearly this benefited the banks and other lenders to the mortgage industry. However, from low levels, foreclosures have been rising recently at a very rapid clip. In 2006, more than 971,000 houses went into some stage of foreclosure, up 51% from the 2005 level. We expect this to number to continue to rise, particularly as more and more ARM’s reset. There has already been significant damage to the sub-prime lending industry, with several major players going under. The sub-prime market had been a major source of the fuel for the housing boom. Currently sub-prime lenders account for about 12% of the U.S. mortgage market, up from only 7.5% in 2001. Are you seeing lots of evidence that these issues are now being addressed? As recently as last summer, on balance almost 10% more banks were making it easier to take out a mortgage, as those who were looking for better credits. However, the swing towards tightening has been dramatic, retesting levels not exhibited seen since the early 1990’s S&L debacle. So in response to more bad loans, banks have begun to tighten their lending standards. This may make it very difficult for those with less than stellar credit to refinance out of ARM’s as they reset. What other concerns do you currently have on a macro-level? Well, we just completed back to back years of a negative personal savings rate. The last time that happened, indeed the last time the savings rate was negative for a full year, was back in 1932 and 1933. The savings rate measures how much is left over after taxes and spending, it does not capture changes in asset values. Just because you did not contribute to your 401-k, does not mean that the account didn’t increase in size. However a negative savings rate does indicate that spending has been fueled by people taking on more debt or drawing on their savings, rather than putting money away. The low savings rate is particularly troublesome in light of the looming retirement of the baby boom generation. This is a time when savings should be at a historic high, not a historic low. If as we suspect that price appreciation in housing is non-existent or negative for the next several years, the size of many baby boomers nest eggs will not leave much room for a comfortable retirement. Read the complete ANALYST INTERVIEW article now. Dirk van Dijk, CFA is the Director of Zacks Equity Research. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Analyst Blog Real-time market insights from Zacks Equity Research Analysts. Stocks featured recently include AK Steel (AKS), VeriSign (VRSN), Evergreen Solar (ESLR) and OSI Pharmaceuticals (OSIP). To see their latest posts, click here. Chemed Corp. (CHE) - Strongly Diversified. For full Zacks research report, click here. Whole Foods (WFMI) - Expenses Climbing. For full Zacks research report, click here. Rising Enrollments Helping Medical Insurers Another Double-Digit Quarter 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 says a market where small-caps take the lead can be lucrative. Benefit from his insight. More...
The market was receptive to the overall picture presented by Chairman Bernanke, but investors looked closer and noticed it wasn’t as rosy as it seemed. More...
Jack Adamo details the recent gains experienced by some of his holdings and discusses his Income Portfolio. 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 05/21/2013
| Company Name | Symbol | %Change |
|---|---|---|
| FEDERAL MOGU | FDML | 6.67% |
| SCIENTIFIC L | SCIL | 6.67% |
| NATUS MEDICA | BABY | 3.63% |
| NEW ORIENTAL | EDU | 3.63% |
| RADIANT LOGI | RLGT | 3.19% |
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