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4 Stocks With Upgraded Broker Ratings to Consider Right Now

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Amid extreme market volatility like now, it’s not easy for individual investors to pick stocks independently and generate solid returns. Persistent macroeconomic and geopolitical issues remain major near-term concerns. Hence, selecting stocks can become a daunting task.

How does one choose the right stocks? One way is to follow rating upgrades by brokers. In this regard, stocks like PBF Energy Inc. (PBF - Free Report) , Genuine Parts Company (GPC - Free Report) , RingCentral, Inc. (RNG - Free Report) and Waters Corporation (WAT - Free Report) are worth considering.

Brokers have insight into what’s happening at a particular company as they directly communicate with management. Moreover, they have a deeper understanding of the overall industry and the economy.

Further, brokers go through a company’s publicly available financial statements, listen to conference calls and talk directly with the top brass. At times, they even interact with customers to gauge what they like or dislike about the products and services offered by the company.

So, after thorough research, brokers decide to rate a particular company’s stock. Naturally, when brokers upgrade a stock, one can easily rely on it. Nonetheless, just depending on brokers’ upgrades is not the right way to build your investment portfolio. One should also take into consideration other factors to ensure solid 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 four stocks that qualified the screening:

PBF Energy, based in Parsippany, NJ, is a leading refiner of crude. Through five oil refineries and associated infrastructure in the United States, PBF provides end products that comprise heating oil, transportation fuels, lubricants and many related products.

PBF Energy’s 2022 earnings are projected to surge 354%. The stock, sporting a Zacks Rank #1 at present, has witnessed a 10% upward revision in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

Atlanta-based Genuine Parts distributes automotive and industrial replacement parts and materials. Currently, GPC operates through two segments: Automotive Parts and Industrial Parts.

The company’s earnings for 2022 are expected to grow 13.6%. Genuine Parts, currently carrying a Zacks Rank #2, has witnessed a 14.3% upward revision in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

Belmont, CA-based RingCentral is a leading provider of Unified Communications as a Service solutions. RNG’s cloud-based business communications and collaboration solutions are designed to provide a single user identity across multiple locations and devices.

RingCentral’s 2022 earnings are projected to rise 38.8%. The stock, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 at present, has witnessed a 5.6% upward revision in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

Milford, MA-based Waters is an analytical instrument manufacturer and offers practical and sustainable products for laboratory-dependent organizations. WAT provides analytical workflow solutions based on mass spectrometry, liquid chromatography and thermal analysis technologies.

The company’s earnings for 2022 are expected to grow 7.6%. Waters, which currently carries a Zacks Rank #2, has witnessed a 10% upward revision in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

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.

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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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