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Looking for a Growth Stock? 3 Reasons Why Delek Logistics Partners, L.P. (DKL) is a Solid Choice

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Growth stocks are attractive to many investors, as above-average financial growth helps these stocks easily grab the market's attention and produce exceptional returns. However, it isn't easy to find a great growth stock.

That's because, these stocks usually carry above-average risk and volatility. In fact, betting on a stock for which the growth story is actually over or nearing its end could lead to significant loss.

However, it's pretty easy to find cutting-edge growth stocks with the help of the Zacks Growth Style Score (part of the Zacks Style Scores system), which looks beyond the traditional growth attributes to analyze a company's real growth prospects.

Our proprietary system currently recommends Delek Logistics Partners, L.P. (DKL - Free Report) as one such stock. This company not only has a favorable Growth Score, but also carries a top Zacks Rank.

Research shows that stocks carrying the best growth features consistently beat the market. And for stocks that have a combination of a Growth Score of A or B and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy), returns are even better.

Here are three of the most important factors that make the stock of this company a great growth pick right now.

Earnings Growth

Earnings growth is arguably the most important factor, as stocks exhibiting exceptionally surging profit levels tend to attract the attention of most investors. For growth investors, double-digit earnings growth is highly preferable, as it is often perceived as an indication of strong prospects (and stock price gains) for the company under consideration.

While the historical EPS growth rate for Delek Logistics Partners, L.P. is 2%, investors should actually focus on the projected growth. The company's EPS is expected to grow 52.9% this year, crushing the industry average, which calls for EPS growth of -22.2%.

Impressive Asset Utilization Ratio

Growth investors often overlook asset utilization ratio, also known as sales-to-total-assets (S/TA) ratio, but it is an important feature of a real growth stock. This metric shows how efficiently a firm is utilizing its assets to generate sales.

Right now, Delek Logistics Partners, L.P. has an S/TA ratio of 0.74, which means that the company gets $0.74 in sales for each dollar in assets. Comparing this to the industry average of 0.35, it can be said that the company is more efficient.

While the level of efficiency in generating sales matters a lot, so does the sales growth of a company. And Delek Logistics Partners, L.P. is well positioned from a sales growth perspective too. The company's sales are expected to grow 21.7% this year versus the industry average of -5.7%.

Promising Earnings Estimate Revisions

Superiority of a stock in terms of the metrics outlined above can be further validated by looking at the trend in earnings estimate revisions. A positive trend is of course favorable here. Empirical research shows that there is a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements.

There have been upward revisions in current-year earnings estimates for Delek Logistics Partners, L.P. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has surged 29.1% over the past month.

Bottom Line

While the overall earnings estimate revisions have made Delek Logistics Partners, L.P. a Zacks Rank #1 stock, it has earned itself a Growth Score of A based on a number of factors, including the ones discussed above.

You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

This combination indicates that Delek Logistics Partners, L.P. is a potential outperformer and a solid choice for growth investors.


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