Thursday - November 30, 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 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 – Amphenol Corporation (APH) Amphenol Corporation (APH), first featured as an Aggressive Growth stock on May 2, exceeded analysts’ expectations in 15 out of the past 16 quarters. The company recently raised its fourth-quarter revenue and earnings per share guidance. As a result, analysts have been upping their profit forecasts. The Board of Directors recently declared a quarterly cash dividend in late October and extended its share repurchase program in early August. Read the full analysis on APH now! Cooper Industries, Ltd. (CBE) exceeded analysts’ earnings expectations for the past 14 quarters. In addition to posting solid results for the third quarter, the company raised its full-year earnings per share guidance. Consensus estimates for this year and next have been trending higher. The Board of Directors recently declared a quarterly cash dividend of 37 cents per common share of stock. CBE is currently yielding 1.6%. Read the full analysis on CBE now! More...
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Momentum – GulfMark Offshore, Inc. (GMRK) On Nov 1, GulfMark Offshore, Inc. (GMRK) reported earnings of $1.59 per share for the third quarter, up 152% from the same quarter last year and an 80% positive surprise above analysts’ consensus estimates. It was the company’s second positive earnings surprise in a row. Read the full analysis on GMRK now! Commercial Metals Company (CMC), which was first highlighted as a Value stock on Mar 24, recently reported record annual and quarterly earnings. Consensus estimates for this quarter and for fiscal 2007 have been on the rise. The Board of Directors recently upped its quarterly cash dividend by 50% to nine cents per share. This Zacks #1 Rank stock has a price-to-book ratio of 2.7, compared to 4.9 for the market. Read the full analysis on CMC now!
2. ZACKS CHALLENGE: TOP PLAYER INTERVIEW Zacks.com features a free investment simulator where our customers can prove their stock picking skills to the rest of the world. In these articles we will share with you the insights and recommendations from Top Simulator Players. Learn more about the current Zacks Challenge. leonarbull Leon Liu (aka: leonarbull), a recent college graduate said that Mitch Zacks’ book,” Ahead of the Market, “ was an influence in his recent entrance into the stock market. As a finance and management major, Leon has started dabbling with securities and finds the Zacks 4th Quarter Stock Challenge to be a very useful learning tool as he explores real-world investments. With the Simulator contest further fueling his passion for stock picking, the market novice has put together a profitable portfolio that currently boasts an overall return of about 30%. Some of the stocks that Leon has been trading include: Apple (AAPL), POINTER TELOCATION LTD. (PNTR), Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. (RS), Interpublic Group of Companies Inc. (IPG) and Citi Trends (CTRN). Click here to check out this participant's complete trading history. What is his approach? In addition to getting his cues from Zacks.com and “Ahead of the Market,” this market enthusiast is also an avid watch of Jim Cramer’s Mad Money on CNBC. Using such resources and plain old experimentation of various investing strategies has been working well so far for this market newcomer. Leon noted, “I'm still experimenting with different investment styles. For the moment, day-trading with focus on earnings, fundamentals, and charts seem to work for me.” The Simulator contender also explained that, in addition to a couple of penny stocks, Apple (AAPL) has been a solid bullish pick. “I like to take sure gains and Apple was one of them,” added Leon. What does he look for and how does he when to sell? Exceptional earnings and high volume are of the highest priority on this market player’s investment radar. As far as dropping a name from his portfolio, the Stock Challenge competitor currently goes with his gut feeling as he tests the market waters. However, he does keep a careful eye on volume, and views decreasing trading activity as a sell indicator. What’s his market outlook and any advice for others who are just starting out in the market? This market watcher is on the conservative side and sees the Dow above 12,000 at year end. As a trading rookie, Leon offered some sound advice for other beginners. “I'd say use the simulator to your fullest. Never be afraid to spend money to earn money. Invest boldly but be conservative on your gains. In other words, don't be greedy and always take the sure gains first.” It’s free. Its fun. It's the place to show your investing prowess. The best stock pickers will be rewarded with thousands of dollars in prizes. Learn more. Trade Options? Then sign up for the Zacks Options Challenge. 3. ZACKS EQUITY RESEARCH Seasonality is starting to take hold. The number of earnings estimate revisions, based on a four-week rolling period, dropped by 30% last week for stocks within the Zacks Rank universe1. Thanksgiving is partially to blame (most analysts did not work last Wednesday or Friday), but there is also the current lull between third- and fourth-quarter earnings season. I would expect the number of estimate revisions to continue to drop through the end of the year, before rebounding in early January. A strong commercial truck market and favorable currency translations helped both Goodyear Tire & Rubber (GT) and Bandag (BDG) deliver bullish third-quarter results. Truck sales have been good this year because of economic expansion and stricter diesel engine emission standards. Although tire volume for both companies did decrease, demand was strong enough to enable GT and BDG to pass through higher raw material costs. A weaker greenback added to profitability as both companies realized a net gain when foreign sales were converted back to U.S. dollars. More. . .
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Goodyear generated third-quarter profits of 42 cents, topping expectations by 19 cents. Sales reached a record $5.3 billion, as the company was able to charge higher prices. Brokerage analysts responded by raising their forecasts for both this year and next. The 2006 consensus earnings estimate is now $1.19 per share, 17 cents higher than a month ago. The 2007 consensus estimate is now $1.61 per share, 29 cents higher than a month ago. Bandag earned 91 cents per share in the third quarter, excluding a 44-cent after-tax restructuring charge. The result topped analysts forecasts by 14 cents per share. Net sales rose to $260.2 million, helped by the company’s TDS and Speedco subsidiaries. (TDS sells new and retread tires. Speedco provides lubrication and tire services to commercial truck fleets and owner-operators.) One of the two covering analysts revised his forecasts, causing the consensus to rise for both this year and next. The 2006 consensus earnings estimate is now $2.46 per share, eight cents higher than a month ago. The 2007 consensus estimate is now $2.76 per share, 15 cents higher than a month ago. Both Goodyear and Bandag are Zacks #1 Rank (“strong buy”) stocks. They are classified in Rubber/Tires. Retail-Apparel/Shoe is one of the few groups to see a net increase in the number of positive estimate revisions over the past week. Bullish earnings reports are the primary reason, but the timing of the reports is also playing a key role. Most retailers operate on a February-January fiscal year, resulting in quarterly reports that come out a month later than most companies. Over the past week, analysts have raised their forecasts on Citi Trends (CTRN), Genesco (GCO) and J. Crew Group (JCG). JCG is a Zacks #1 Rank stock, while GCO are Zacks #2 Rank (“buy”) stocks. To read the complete Analysts Interview, click here. Charles Rotblut, CFA is the senior market analyst for Zacks Equity Research. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Analyst Blog Real-time market insights from Zacks Equity Research Analysts. Stocks featured recently include Fortune Brands (FO), NTL, Inc. (NTLI), Suncor Energy (SU) and Flextronics (FLEX). To see their latest posts, click here. ASML Holding (ASML) - Solid for the Long Term. For full Zacks research report, click here. BJ’s Wholesale Club (BJ) - Good Exit Point. For full Zacks research report, click here. Seasonal Lull U.S. Dollar Assists Foreign Businesses 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. 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: Low Price Stocks Many investors prefer stocks priced below $20 because the low prices allow them to accumulate more shares. Fortunately, lower prices do not necessarily mean lower quality. This strategy identifies stocks priced below $20 that are trading at discount valuations and have a Zacks Rank of #1 ("Strong Buy") or #2 ("Buy"). The stocks identified by this search strategy trade at price-to-sales (P/S) multiples of 1.0 or below. The strong Zacks Rank is indicative of positive revisions in earnings estimates. Combining these characteristics can result in high-dollar returns. In 2005, this strategy generated a stellar +51.9% return. AEGON NV (AEG), a Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) company, recently reported its operating performance in the first nine months of 2006. The company stated that record sales in the UK, which increased 56% during the period, were the most important contributor to the 15% increase in new sales for the Group. AEG satisfies the criteria for this Profit Track with a price-to-sales ratio of 0.67 and earnings per share profitability of $1.91 over the past 12 months. Continue your research on AEG now! Centerpoint Energy, Inc. (CNP) recently released third-quarter results. Earnings per share totaled 26 cents, which topped the consensus estimate by 30% and surpassed last year’s 15 cents per share. The company commented that continued strong performance, combined with the growth prospects in its pipeline and field services operations, position Centerpoint Energy well for the future. The company has seen earnings per share growth of $1.10 over the past 12 months and sports a price-to-sales ratio of 0.49. Continue your research on CNP now! REX Stores Corp. (RSC) will announce financial results for the fiscal third quarter on December 5, 2006. In late August, the company posted fiscal second-quarter earnings per share that soared past the consensus estimate by 300%. During the past five consecutive quarters, RSC missed analysts' expectations only once. RSC has seen earnings per share growth of $1.35 over the past 12 months and offers a price-to-sales ratio of 0.45. Continue your research on RSC now! USEC Inc. (USU) earned $1.10 per share over the past 12 months and has a price-to-sales ratio of 0.56. The company recently announced third-quarter earnings of 11 cents per share, eclipsing analysts’ expectations by 57% and outperforming the year-ago quarter. USU noted that its third quarter was very solid as its financial results continued to meet or exceed its projections for 2006. Continue your research on USU 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”. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Great Stocks often have Great Peers Kevin Matras looks at how to find winning stocks in the winningest sectors: Click here. 5. ZacksElite.com TIMELY BUY of the WEEK Here you'll discover a Zacks #1 Rank stock hand selected by Ben Zacks to outperform the market over the next 30 to 90 days. This week's Timely Buy is...
Xilinx (XLNX) designs and manufactures a broad range of high-performance, high-density programmable logic devices (PLDs), such as field-programmable gate arrays and complex programmable logic devices. A programmable logic device is an integrated circuit that can be programmed in a laboratory to perform complex functions. These logic devices are used to direct signal traffic within a digital system. Equipment manufacturers across a wide range of industries employ PLDs in their devices. Use of PLDs is increasing thanks to lower development costs relative to application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs). Unlike ASICs, PLDs can be re-programmed, thereby allowing new and/or revised products to be brought to market faster. Therefore, for many applications, PLDs are becoming a more popular choice. And XLNX is a leading manufacturer of PLDs. Last month, XLNX reported fiscal second-quarter profits of 27 cents per share, four cents above analysts’ expectations. Net revenues rose 17% to $467.2 million. (Revenues did decline 3% on a sequential quarterly basis, though this was primarily due to seasonality.) Gross margins stayed fairly steady at 61.3%. Following the release of third-quarter results, analysts revised their forecasts slightly higher. The current consensus estimate calls for fiscal 2007 earnings of $1.09 per share, a penny above the month-old forecast. Relative to 60 days ago, the trend is more bullish with forecasts having risen by ten cents. Xilinx is a Zacks #1 Rank stock. XLNX currently trades at 24x fiscal 2007 earnings. Zacks Equity Research analyst Lawrence Orlowski believes new product introductions and accelerating growth in the communications business could provide catalysts to drive the stock price higher. Orlowski has a price target of $30 for the stock.
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 Rank (Strong Buy) List has produced the following results for investors:
And just as importantly, our #5 Ranked stocks (Strong Sells) have alerted investors as to which stocks to dump from their portfolios to avoid unnecessary losses. 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 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 05/22/2013
| Company Name | Symbol | %Change |
|---|---|---|
| ALLIANCE FIB | AFOP | 9.31% |
| SONIC FOUNDR | SOFO | 7.77% |
| TRI TECH HOL | TRIT | 6.62% |
| A M R CP | AAMRQ | 4.52% |
| FLOWERS FOOD | FLO | 4.31% |
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