Friday - April 27, 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 – United States Cellular Corporation (USM) United States Cellular Corporation’s (USM) earnings estimates have been on the rise, especially for next year. 2008 estimates have increased 50 cents to $2.89 per share over the past 60 days, and 16 cents alone in the past week. Two analysts have raised their estimates for next over the past 90 days. The company sports a relatively low debt/equity percentage of 27%. Read the full analysis on USM now! Honeywell International, Inc. (HON) recently raised its 2007 profit and revenue guidance after it reported solid first-quarter results. Analysts responded to the company’s bullish outlook by upping their profit forecasts. On Apr 23, the Board of Directors declared a regular quarterly dividend of 25 cents per share of common stock. HON has a current dividend yield of 1.9%. Read the full analysis on HON now! INX Inc. (INXI) has reported three consecutive earnings surprises, helping to fuel momentum that has pushed the stock to 52-week highs on stronger-than-average volume. Read the full analysis on INXI now! Consensus earnings estimates have been on the rise forDryShips, Inc. (DRYS). In early April, the Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of 20 cents per share, its eighth consecutive quarterly cash dividend. This Zacks #1 Rank stock has a price-to-book ratio of 2.5, compared to 4.5 for the market. Its return on equity more than doubles that of the industry average—21% compared to 8%. Read the full analysis on DRYS 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: 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. Here are four stocks that make the grade for the Earnings and Margins Profit Track: Amkor Technology Inc. (AMKR), a Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) company, posted fourth-quarter results in early February. Earnings per share totaled 30 cents, outpacing the consensus by 36%. AMKR said its fourth quarter saw continued strong demand in 3D package solutions and Flip Chip packages for high performance applications, including all three major game consoles, networking and communications modules, offset by a decline in demand for packages supporting wireless and other mobile devices. The company’s price-to-sales ratio stands at 0.95, and it experienced earnings per share profitability of $1.04 over the past 12 months. Results for the second quarter will available on May 1, 2007. Continue your research on AMKR now! Books-A-Million, Inc. (BAMM) announced fourth-quarter earnings of 90 cents per share in late March, outperforming the consensus estimate by 11%. The company stated that improvements in margin, better inventory management and discipline in cost control contributed to solid results. BAMM earned $1.12 per share during the past 12 months and sports a price-to-sales ratio of 0.56. Continue your research on BAMM now! Delek US Holdings Inc. (DK) has a price-to-sales ratio of 0.32. During the past 12 months, DK earned $1.94 per share. The company recently declared a special cash dividend of $0.1975 per share as well as a quarterly cash dividend of $0.0375 per share. In early March, the company reported fourth-quarter earnings of 22 cents per share, exceeding the consensus estimate by 5%. Financial results for the first quarter will be available on May 10, 2007. Continue your research on MTSN now! CPI International, Inc. (CPII) will report financial results for the fiscal second quarter on May 14, 2007. In early February, the company released fiscal first-quarter earnings of 33 cents per share, topping the consensus estimate by 14%. CPI International meets the criteria for this Profit Track as evidenced by its price-to-sales ratio of 0.95 and earnings per share profitability of $1.24 over the past 12 months. Continue your research on CPIInow! 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 combines some of his winningest strategies to create a Custom Consensus screen. More... 3. ZACKS EQUITY RESEARCH We recently conversed with senior healthcare analyst Chris Kallos ahead of the bulk of first quarter earnings for companies in the healthcare sector. He gave us his perspective on what to expect. Ahead of Q1 earnings, what are your general expectations? Our main focus in the Q1 earnings season will be on the progress of Medicare Part D related enrollments and company-level Medical Loss ratios amongst the managed care providers. We believe recent CMS funding grants allocated to increasing awareness of health insurance coverage now available to Medicare beneficiaries supports increasing penetration of the senor population. Medicare-exposed MCO’s include Humana (HUM), WellPoint (WLP), Coventry Healthcare (CVH), and HealthNet (HNT). More. . .
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Are there sub-industries in the healthcare market expected to outperform others? The managed care and disease management sub-sectors continue to evolve as a result of both government-driven programs such as Medicare Part D, cost containment initiatives in both the private and public sectors, and ongoing industry consolidation. Notwithstanding the high level of uninsured amongst the population, these companies are an important component of the current healthcare system and well positioned to benefit from favorable demographic trends. How should individual investors look to benefit from the long-term growth expected in health care? The aging of the population obviously will fuel long-term growth of the entire healthcare sector. However, investment opportunities will be driven in large part by decisions made in Congress. For example, the introduction of Medicare part D highlighted the role of managed care organizations the under the current Bush administration. Despite recent suggestions by Democratic senators to increase scrutiny of Medicare Advantage plan providers, we believe managed care will continue to play a central role in the distribution of healthcare services and an important sub-sector of healthcare for investors. What are your favorite Buys right now? Any Sells worth mentioning? We continue to rate Wellpoint (WLP) as a Buy given its broad product offering, geographic reach, and potential for added synergy gains from recent acquisitions. Matria Healthcare (MATR) is also rated a Buy given the potential for synergy gains from recent major acquisitions. We believe the remainder of our stock universe is currently trading within a fair value range. Read the complete ANALYST INTERVIEW article now. Chris Kallos is a senior analyst covering the healthcare sector for Zacks Equity Research. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Analyst Blog Real-time market insights from Zacks Equity Research Analysts. Stocks featured recently include Siliconware Precision Industries (SPIL), Smith Int’l (SII), Tractor Supply (TSCO) and Plexus Corporation (PLXS). To see their latest posts, click here. Huaneng Power (HNP) - Growing Demand in China. For full Zacks research report, click here. Pharmion (PHRM) - Sales are Stalling. For full Zacks research report, click here. Industries Generating Earnings Surprises Small- and Mid-Cap Performance 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. INVESTMENT IDEAS The editors at Zacks.com constantly analyze the universe of stocks to find the best investment ideas. Today, learn how you can profit from the U.S. futures exchanges: If you haven’t heard of the takeover battle for the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the world’s oldest futures exchange, then you’ve probably been living under a rock. Futures, or contracts to buy or sell at a certain date, at a specified price, have exploded in recent years and the industry has shown no signs of slowing down. In fact, it seems to be speeding up. According to the Futures Industry Association, the number of futures and options contracts traded worldwide rose by more than 30% to 11.86 billion contracts last year. These flexible and diverse instruments give companies and investors the ability to hedge everything from interest rates and currency risk, to changes in the weather. There are even contracts on whether the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) or the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) will merge with the CBOT, further demonstrating the creative applications of these products. A wave of industry consolidation is being fueled by a need for greater economies of scale as firms work to reduce costs, raise trading volume and increase order flow. Not only did the CME offer to buy the CBOT for $8 billion, the ICE made a competing, unsolicited bid of $9.9 billion. The ICE’s surprise bid follows the 2006 purchase of the New York Board of Trade (NYBOT) for $1 billion. The New York Stock Exchange, constantly working to expand its reach and product offering, recently merged with Euronext, a pan-European equities and derivatives market. Japan is feeling the pressure as well, recently advising the Tokyo Stock Exchange to possibly merge with the two Tokyo commodity exchanges. The fact is, everyone is looking to profit from the futures explosion and the US exchanges are at the epicenter of the movement. CBOT Holdings Inc. (BOT) The Chicago Board of Trade, the world’s oldest futures and options exchange, was founded in 1848. Over 3600 CBOT members trade 50 different futures and options products including agriculture, grains and US Treasury futures, as well as options on futures contracts. The CBOT is actively expanding its product offering with a new stock-index futures contract based on the Dow Jones Real Estate Index, a longer-term interest rate-swap futures contract and mini-sized electronic agricultural contracts. The company also operates a real estate segment that owns and manages buildings in downtown Chicago. On Apr 19, The CBOT reported record first-quarter EPS of $1.05, 12 cents above expectations on record revenues of $187.7 million. Higher exchange and clearing fees, resulting from a 24% increase in trading volumes, drove revenue growth of 34%. In line with industry trends, electronic trading volume continues to increase, comprising 78% of the total exchange average daily volume, up from 69% in the first quarter of 2006. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (ICE) The Intercontinental Exchange, founded in 2000, operates a global electronic marketplace for trading in futures and over-the-counter (OTC) commodities. Its products include contracts based on crude and refined oil products, natural gas, power and emissions, sugar, cotton, coffee, cocoa and orange juice, along with foreign exchange and index products. The company operates in four segments: Energy Futures and Options Markets, Global OTC Markets, Market Data and Soft Commodity Futures and Options Markets. A series of successful acquisitions turned a small internet-based energy trading market into a leading global futures exchange. In 2001, the ICE purchased the International Petroleum Exchange, allowing the combination of both OTC and futures markets on an electronic platform. The move put the ICE in direct competition with the NYMEX and gave the company access to the London Clearing House in the UK. Last year, the ICE agreed to purchase the NYBOT, an exchange dealing in commodities such as coffee, cocoa and orange juice, in an effort to expand the company’s product offerings and attain trade clearing abilities. The deal could potentially result in over $50 million in pretax synergies. The ICE’s most recent bid for the CBOT cements its position as a global leader. While the ICE won’t post first-quarter results until May 2, the company’s track record of beating earnings estimates could be foretelling. The company has reported five consecutive surprises that have surpassed expectations by an average of 10.8%. In the most recent Feb 7 release, the company posted a 131% increase in revenues to $95.3 million, largely due to solid growth in transaction fee revenue. Quarterly EPS rose to 81 cents, up from 26 cents in the prior-year period and seven cents above expectations. Read the full Investment Ideas article by clicking here. 5. FEATURED EXPERTS Here we cast the spotlight on timely Featured Expert commentaries that recently appeared on Zacks.com.
Jim Oberweisanticipates a positive FDA decision for Dendreon’s (DNDN) Provenge for the treatment of prostate cancer. Read this biotech expert’s commentary. More...
Gregory Spear from The Spear Report gives his take on last week’s Fed meeting, the record highs in the market, and some updated recommendations. More...
MONEYLETTER’s Walter Frank gives his latest impressions on overseas funds, as well as good-to-know news about one major mutual fund. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| LUMOS NETWOR | LMOS | 5.82% |
| SUPPORTCOM I | SPRT | 4.19% |
| E HOUSECHINA | EJ | 3.40% |
| INGLES MARKE | IMKTA | 3.18% |
| SUMITOMO MIT | SMFG | 3.15% |
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