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5 Stocks With Upgraded Broker Ratings to Buy for Solid Gains

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It’s not easy for an individual investor to pick stocks on his own and gain from them, given the number of fundamental and technical aspects that need to be considered for choosing potential winners. One easy way to carry out this task is to follow broker recommendations.

Since brokers are in direct communication with companies, they have a deeper insight into what’s happening in them. Hence, following what most brokers are saying about a stock can help you understand its potential easily.

Thus, in this regard, stocks like Tapestry, Inc. (TPR - Free Report) , KB Home (KBH - Free Report) , Raymond James Financial (RJF - Free Report) , J.B. Hunt Transport Services (JBHT - Free Report) and Experian plc (EXPGY - Free Report) are worth investing in.

Brokers also analyze the fundamentals of the company and place them against the current economic backdrop to figure out how the stock will fare as an investment. Further, they have a deeper understanding of the overall industry and economy.

Precisely, brokers analyze a company’s publicly available financial statements, attend conference calls and communicate directly with top management. They even talk to customers to understand what they like or dislike about the products and services offered by the company.

So, there’s comprehensive research behind the rating of a broker on a company’s stock. Naturally, when a broker upgrades a stock, one can easily rely on it. Yet, it’s not advisable to solely depend on rating upgrades to build an investment portfolio. One must also take into consideration certain other factors to ensure strong returns.

Selecting the Winning Strategy

We have a screening strategy that will help you in your search for potential winners:

Broker Rating Upgrades (four weeks) of 1% or more: The screen selects stocks that have witnessed broker rating upgrades of 1% or more over the last four weeks.

Current Price greater than $5: The stocks must be trading above $5.

Average 20-day Volume greater than 100,000: A large trading volume guarantees that the stock is easily tradable.

Zacks Rank equal to #1 or 2: No matter whether market conditions are good or bad, stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy) have a proven record of success. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

VGM Score of A or B: Our research shows that stocks with a VGM Score of A or B when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 or 2 offer the best upside potential.

Here are the five of seven stocks that qualified the screening:

New York-based Tapestry is the global designer and marketer of fine accessories and gifts for women and men. TPR offers lifestyle products, including handbags, women’s and men’s accessories, footwear, jewelry, seasonal apparel collections, sunwear, travel bags, fragrance and watches.

The company’s earnings for fiscal 2022 are expected to grow 18.2%. Tapestry, currently carrying a Zacks Rank #2, has witnessed an 8.3% upward revision in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

Headquartered in Los Angeles, CA, KB Home is a well-known homebuilder in the United States and one of the largest in the state. KBH also builds attached and detached single-family homes, town homes and condominiums.

KB Home’s fiscal 2022 earnings are projected to jump 67.9%. The stock, sporting a Zacks Rank #1 at present, has witnessed a 10% upward revision in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

Raymond James is a diversified company based in St. Petersburg, FL.  RJF provides financial services mainly in the United States and Canada.

The company’s earnings for fiscal 2022 are expected to rise 1.4%. Cerner, which currently carries a Zacks Rank #2, has witnessed a 25% upward revision in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

J.B. Hunt, based in Lowell, AR, is a provider of a broad range of transportation services to a diverse group of customers through the United States, Canada and Mexico. JBHT operates through five business segments - JBI, Dedicated Contract Services, FMS, JBT and Integrated Capacity Solutions.

The company’s earnings for 2022 are anticipated to increase 19.5%. J.B. Hunt, currently sporting a Zacks Rank #1, has witnessed a 7.7% upward revision in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

Ireland-based Experian operates as a technology company. EXPGY provides data services to identify and understand their customers, as well as to manage the risks related to lending.

Experian’s earnings for fiscal 2022 are expected to jump 30.4%. The stock, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 at present, has witnessed a 25% upward revision in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

Get the rest of the stocks on the list and start putting this and other ideas to the test. It can all be done with the Research Wizard stock picking and backtesting software.

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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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