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The 5 Best Stocks You Should Buy on Relative Price Strength

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The novel coronavirus outbreak triggered an unprecedented sell-off in equities and bonds. Stocks were clobbered and major indices crashed regularly, while in a bizarre turn of events, the U.S. oil futures hit negative territory.

However, over the past few months, markets, securities and crude have rebounded off their pandemic lows. Restrictions have been loosened and the economy has reopened, with activity limping back toward normalcy. Meanwhile, certain drug candidates and treatments offer a ray of hope in the coronavirus fight.  

While the heaviest losses may be in the rear-view mirror, with the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq even attaining their all-time highs in September, the road to recovery remains long and uncertain amid concerns about a fresh wave of the virus in many countries, the Fed’s cautious view of the American economy, the upcoming election-related uncertainty and simmering U.S.-China tensions. Confusion over the second stimulus package to prop up the economy is also weighing on the markets.

Amid the entire coronavirus-induced mayhem, a few stocks held up to the crisis even as the virus knocked down businesses and industries. With the market expected to remain volatile over the near-to-medium term, one of the ways such potential plays could be identified is to look for signs of relative price strength.

The Relative Price Strength Approach

Investors generally gauge a stock’s potential returns by examining earnings growth and valuation multiples. At the same time, it’s important to measure the performance of such a stock relative to its industry or peers, or the appropriate benchmark.

If you see that a stock is underperforming on fundamental factors, then it would be prudent to move on and find a better alternative. However, those outperforming their respective sectors in terms of price should be selected because they stand a better chance to provide considerable returns.

Then again, it is imperative that you determine whether or not an investment has relevant upside potential when considering stocks with significant relative price strength. Stocks delivering better than the S&P 500 over a period of 1 to 3 months at the least and having solid fundamentals indicate room for growth and are the best ways to go about this strategy.

Finally, it is important to find out whether analysts are optimistic about the upcoming earnings results of these companies. In order to do this, we have added positive estimate revisions for the current quarter’s (Q1) earnings to our screen. When a stock undergoes an upward revision, it leads to additional price gains.

Screening Parameters

Relative % Price change – 12 weeks greater than 0

Relative % Price change – 4 weeks greater than 0

Relative % Price change – 1 week greater than 0

(We have considered those stocks that have been outperforming the S&P 500 over the last 12 weeks, four weeks and one week.)

% Change (Q1) Est. over 4 Weeks greater than 0: Positive current-quarter estimate revisions over the last four weeks.

Zacks Rank equal to 1: Only Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks — that have returned more than 26% annually over the last 26 years and surpassed the S&P 500 in 23 of the last 26 years — can get through. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Current Price greater than or equal to $5 and Average 20-day Volume greater than or equal to 50,000: A minimum price of $5 is a good standard to screen low-priced stocks, while a high trading volume would imply adequate liquidity.

VGM Score less than or equal to B: Our research shows that stocks with a VGM Score of A or B when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 or 2 (Buy) offer the best upside potential.

Here are five of the 15 stocks that made it through the screen:

Matson, Inc. (MATX - Free Report) : Matson is a provider of ocean transportation and logistics services. The 2020 Zacks Consensus Estimate for this Honolulu, HI-based company indicates 17.3% earnings per share growth over 2019. Matson has a VGM Score of A.

Rent-A-Center, Inc. : The largest rent-to-own operator of durable goods in the United States, Rent-A-Center has a VGM Score of A. Over 30 days, the Plano, TX-based company has seen the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2020 surge 21.8%.

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (WSM - Free Report) : The San Francisco, CA based company is a multi-channel specialty retailer of premium quality home products. The firm has a VGM Score of B and an excellent earnings surprise history, having surpassed estimates in each of the last four quarters by 202.5%, on average.

RPM International Inc. (RPM - Free Report) : RPM International manufactures and markets high-performance coatings, sealants and specialty chemicals, primarily for maintenance and improvement applications. Sporting a VGM Score of B, this Medina, OH-headquartered company’s expected EPS growth rate for three to five years currently stands at 13.9%, comparing favorably with the industry's growth rate of 11.7%.

Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (GPI - Free Report) : Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Houston, TX, Group 1 Automotive is one of the leading vehicle retailers in the world. The company has a VGM Score of A and an enviable earnings surprise history, having surpassed estimates in each of the last four quarters, delivering a positive earnings surprise of 98.1%, on average.

You can get the rest of the stocks on this list by signing up now for your 2-week free trial to the Research Wizard and start using this screen in your own trading. Further, you can also create your own strategies and test them first before taking the investment plunge.

The Research Wizard is a great place to begin. It's easy to use. Everything is in plain language. And it's very intuitive. Start your Research Wizard trial today. And the next time you read an economic report, open up the Research Wizard, plug your finds in, and see what gems come out.

Click here to sign up for a free trial to the Research Wizard today

Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.

Disclosure: Performance information for Zacks’ portfolios and strategies are available at: https://www.zacks.com/performance.

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