Monday - March 26, 2007
 Want to view the archive of past issues? Click here. Manage your 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 - Kansas City Southern (KSU) Kansas City Southern (KSU) has dramatically exceeded earnings estimates in each of the past four quarters. The average surprise has been over 30%. Three analysts have raised their estimates for this year. Over the past 60 days, this year's estimates have increased 20 cents to $1.40 per share. Analysts expect the company to earn $1.80 per share next year. Read the full analysis on KSU now! Growth & Income - Becton, Dickinson and Company (BDX) Becton, Dickinson and Company (BDX), first highlighted as a Growth and Income pick on Aug 18, is up over 10%. The company topped the Street’s earnings estimate for 15 consecutive quarters. Consensus estimates for this year and next are up over the past two months. On Nov 21, the Board of Directors upped its quarterly cash dividend by 14% to 24.5 cents per share. BDX has a current dividend yield of 1.3% and a five-year average dividend yield of 1.2%. Read the full analysis on BDX now! Momentum - Varian Inc. (VARI) Varian Inc. (VARI) is a Zacks #1 Rank stock that’s up 26% since reporting a 17% earnings surprise for its fiscal first quarter. With the stock trading at 52-week highs on stronger-than-average volume, further upward momentum is likely. Read the full analysis on VARI now! Value - Global Industries, Ltd. (GLBL) Global Industries, Ltd. (GLBL), a Zacks #1 Rank stock, topped the Street’s earnings estimate for 10 consecutive quarters by an average margin of 10.3%. The company recently reported solid results for the first quarter. Consensus earnings estimates have been on the rise over the past seven days. ASFI has a price-to-book ratio of 2.6, compared to 4.2 for the market. Read the full analysis on GLBL now! Zacks Rank Resources
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: High Rank Value Two of the most commonly accepted measures of a value stock are a price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of 15.0 and a price-to-book (P/B) multiple of 3.0. Although many studies have shown performance advantages to investing in value stocks, not all value stocks are actually bargains. A value a stock is only a good buy if earnings are expected to improve in the future. High Rank Value is a strategy designed to find the true bargains among value stocks. By requiring a Zacks Rank of #1 (“Strong Buy”) or #2 (“Buy”), this strategy restricts the pool of value stocks to only those with positive revisions in earnings estimates. In other words, profits are expected to improve in the future at a faster pace than originally anticipated. DryShips, Inc. (DRYS) posted full-year and fourth-quarter results in late February. Earnings per share, excluding an item, totaled 77 cents for the fourth quarter. The company stated that it enters 2007 with a bigger and significantly younger fleet and about 64% of the total vessel operating days unfixed which places DryShips in a unique position to capitalize on the strong dry bulk industry fundamentals. DRYS offers a price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple is 9.67 and its price-to-book (P/B) multiple is 1.91. Continue your research on DRYS now! First United Corporation (FUNC) satisfies the criteria for this Profit Track as evidenced by its price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of 11.05 and a price-to-book (P/B) multiple of 1.43. The company announced fourth-quarter and 2006 results in late February. Earnings per share for the full year totaled $2.05, versus $1.99 for 2005. Quarterly earnings of 56 cents per share exceeded the consensus estimate by 8%. Continue your research on FUNC now! Horace Mann Educators Corp. (HMN) has a price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple is 10.25 and a price-to-book (P/B) multiple of 1.36. HMN reported fourth-quarter earnings that were ahead of the year-prior quarter and beat the consensus estimate by 12%. The company noted that it produced solid earnings for the fourth quarter and full year, and its growth initiatives continued to gain traction. Continue your research on HMN now! Westar Energy Inc. (WR) recently released fourth-quarter and full-year results. Fourth-quarter earnings of 15 cents per share, outperformed the consensus estimate by 36% and soared past the year-prior result. Year 2006 earnings per share of $1.88 improved the previous year’s $1.55. Westar Energy’s price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple is 14.71 and its price-to-book (P/B) multiple stands at 1.57. Continue your research on WR 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 shows how to find great growth stocks at an excellent value. Read more... 3. ZACKS EQUITY RESEARCH
There isn't much on the calendar for this week. Just 56 companies are confirmed to be report earnings. Seven of these are in the S&P 500. The only company likely to have any influence on market direction is homebuilder Lennar (NYSE: LEN). Even then, it's hard to imagine what the company could say that would sway current attitudes about the housing market. First-quarter earnings season will not "officially" start until Apr 10, when Alcoa (NYSE: AA) is scheduled to report. Nonetheless, 41 companies in the Zacks Rank universe have reported first-quarter results. Positive surprises are leading negative surprises by a margin of about 2:1 and earnings growth is running at 9.8%. A decent start, but given the small size of the group, investors should refrain from drawing any conclusions. More. . .
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Economic data this week will feature consumer confidence (Conference Board on Tuesday and University of Michigan on Friday), durable goods orders (Wednesday), final fourth-quarter GDP (Thursday), personal income and spending (Friday) and Chicago PMI (Friday). So what will move the markets this week? Look for daily news (e.g. mergers) and sentiment to move stocks prices. The tail end of the quarter may bring some earnings preannouncements, but the number of earnings estimate revisions has been dropping significantly over the past several weeks. Companies That Could Issue Positive Earnings Surprises During the Week of Mar 26 – 30 A.G. Edwards (NYSE: AGE) has given shareholders a positive earnings surprise during three out of the past four quarters. Most recently, the brokerage firm's fiscal third-quarter earnings were 12 cents above forecasts. Heading into AGE's fiscal fourth-quarter report, analysts are raising their projections. Over the past 30 days, the consensus estimate has been revised upwards by two cents to $1.04 per share. The Most Recent Consensus is more bullish at $1.06 per share. A.G. Edwards is scheduled to report on Thursday, Mar 29, before the start of trading. CarMax (NYSE: KMX), which recently completed a 2-1 stock split, has topped analysts expectations by an average margin of 10 cents per share over the past four quarters. Ahead of the car dealer's fiscal fourth-quarter report, one analyst raised his forecast. The revision pushed the consensus estimate up by a penny to 41 cents per share. The Most Recent Consensus is more bullish at 42 cents per share. CarMax is scheduled to report on Thursday, Mar 29, before the start of trading. Read the complete Earnings Preview now! Charles Rotblut, CFA is the Senior Market Analyst for Zacks.com. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Analyst Blog Real-time market insights from Zacks Equity Research Analysts. Stocks featured recently include Sepracor, Inc. (SEPR), Palm, Inc. (PALM), CRA International (CRAI) and Auxilium Pharmaceuticals (AUXL). To see their latest posts, click here. CRA International (CRAI) - Strong Demand. For full Zacks research report, click here. Auxilium Pharmaceuticals (AUXL) - High Risk. For full Zacks research report, click here. Semiconductors Feeling Positive Size, Growth and Valuation 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. RESEARCH DIGEST What is Wall Street saying about your stocks? You'll find the answer in our exclusive Research Digest reports. Here is a synopsis of stocks with recent broker upgrades: Express Scripts, Inc. (ESRX) has experienced a rise in its Average Broker Recommendation to 1.80 of late. According to Zacks Research Digest, analysts like the company’s position as one of the largest PBMs in North America. Furthermore, rising mail order, generic penetration rates and acquisition activity are all seen as favorable for earnings growth. Also, solid cash flow and balance sheet trends allow Express Scripts the financial flexibility for strategic acquisitions and share buybacks. Read the Research Digest report on ESRX Applied Biosystems Group (ABI), an Applera Corporation business, watched its Average Broker Recommendation rise to 2.10. Analysts believe the company will continue to benefit from the significant R&D spending by pharmaceutical and biotech companies, as well as academia, according to Zacks Research Digest. In addition, high sales of consumables could benefit margins, while increasing exposure to rapidly growing Asian markets and new product launches could benefit revenue growth. Applied Biosystems also continues to look for potential acquisitions. Read the Research Digest report on ABI Praxair, Inc. (PX), the industrial gas giant, is appreciated by analysts for several reasons, including its leading positions in North and South America, which is expected to support long-term growth. According to Zacks Research Digest, other positive arguments include its improved key developing platforms of refinery hydrogen, electronics and healthcare. Praxair’s ability to contractually pass through energy costs to protect margins and its capital discipline are also seen as beneficial. Furthermore, the company benefits from improving volumes, low exposure to volatile natural gas prices and its focus on reducing costs and capital discipline. The company’s Average Broker Recommendation has risen to 1.43. Read the Research Digest report on PX The Bear Stearns Companies Inc. (BSC) watched its Average Broker Recommendation rise to 1.86. According to Zacks Research Digest, Bear Stearns has numerous avenues for growth. It continues to grow and diversify at the same time by strengthening its equity business. Its growing Global Clearing Services business is leveraged to a cyclical recovery in the equity capital markets with substantial exposure to one of the highest-growth areas, the hedge fund industry. Furthermore, BSC remains well positioned to prosper from the secular growth of the fixed income market. Read the Research Digest report on BSC Click here to see all Research Digest Reports All Star Analyst Portfolio Broker Rating Upgrades 5. FEATURED EXPERTS Here we cast the spotlight on timely Featured Expert commentaries that recently appeared on Zacks.com. Another Great Buying Opportunity Donald Rowe ssays the market has given us another great buying opportunity, and he recommends a fully invested position. More... Dr. Edward Olmstead highlights two bullish option plays. Discover what kind of profits these trades could yield. More... Mutual Fund expert Don Dion pits his portfolio against major averages and highlights some economic data. Benefit from his insight. 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 at. 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 and 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 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 05/17/2013
| Company Name | Symbol | %Change |
|---|---|---|
| VIASAT INC | VSAT | 19.35% |
| OLD SECOND B | OSBC | 5.76% |
| GAMCO INVEST | GBL | 4.61% |
| CORNING INC | GLW | 4.47% |
| SYNCHRONOSS | SNCR | 4.23% |
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