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5 Broker-Admired Stocks That Investors Need to Watch

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The ongoing earnings season has thrown up a picture of hope and resilience, with many companies reporting better-than-expected earnings per share despite headwinds like the recent uptick in inflation and the weak demand scenario. Generally, an earnings beat by a company leads to an uptick in its stock price.

The improving scenario is further highlighted by the fact that most companies have been witnessing favorable earnings estimate revisions of late.  Given this highly encouraging backdrop, it is worth keeping an eye on broker-favored stocks like General Motors(GM - Free Report) , CVR Energy (CVI - Free Report) , Delek US Holdings (DK - Free Report) , American Airlines (AAL - Free Report) and Ford Motor Company (F - Free Report) .

Broker Advice: Why is it Required?

With a plethora of earnings reports flooding the market during the reporting cycle, pinpointing outperformers or well-performing stocks is by no means an easy task for individual investors. In the absence of proper guidance, identifying a winning stock is akin to searching for a needle in a haystack for an investor. The proper guidance, in this respect, comes from brokers, who are deemed to be experts equipped with vast knowledge and know-how as far as the field of investing is concerned.

Brokers not only scrutinize the publicly available financial documents but also attend company conference calls and other presentations. Naturally, it is in the best interest of investors to pay heed to such well-researched information as they aim to generate maximum returns from their portfolio. The current uncertain scenario makes it all the more necessary to follow broker advice as they have in-depth knowledge about market complexities.

We have designed a screen to shortlist stocks based on improving analyst recommendations and upward revisions to earnings estimates over the last four weeks. Also, since the price/sales ratio is a strong complementary valuation metric in the presence of analyst information, it has also been included. The price/sales ratio takes care of the company’s top line, thereby making the strategy foolproof.

Screening Criteria

# (Up- Down Rating)/ Total (4 weeks) =Top #75 (This gives the list of the top 75 companies that have witnessed net upgrades over the last 4 weeks).

% change in Q (1) est. (4 weeks) = Top #10 (This gives the top 10 stocks that have witnessed earnings estimate revisions over the past 4 weeks for the upcoming quarter).

We have also added the following screening parameters to ensure that the strategy is a winning one:

Price-to-Sales = Bot%10 (The lower the ratio, the better. Companies meeting this criterion are in the bottom 10% of our universe of over 7,700 stocks with respect to this ratio).

Price greater than 5 (as a stock trading below $5 will not likely create significant interest for most of the investors).

Average Daily Volume greater than 100,000 shares over the last 20 trading days (Volume has to be significant to ensure that these are easily traded).

Market value ($ mil) = Top #3000 (This gives us stocks that are the top 3000 in terms of market capitalization).

Com/ADR/Canadian= Com (This takes out the ADR and Canadian stocks).

Here are five of the 10 stocks that made it through the screen:

Based in Detroit, MI, General Motors is one of the world’s largest automakers. The company’s massive electric vehicle (EV) push is commendable. The automaker plans to roll out 30 fresh EV models by 2025-end. Over the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 earnings has moved up 1.9%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for General Motors’s 2024 earnings indicates 21.4% growth from the 2023 actual. GM, currently carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 17.75%, on average. GM shares have gained 27.6% year to date. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here

CVR Energy: Established in 2006, CVR Energy is a holding company primarily involved in renewable energy, petroleum refining, marketing, and nitrogen fertilizer manufacturing through its stake in CVR Partners. It's committed to developing renewable biofuels and actively participating in the energy transition to reduce carbon emissions.

CVI beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in each of the trailing four quarters, the average being 62.2%. The company currently carries a Zacks Rank of 3 (Hold). Shares of CVR Energy have gained 9.6% year to date.

American Airlines is based in Fort Worth, TX. The gradual increase in air travel demand (particularly for leisure) is aiding AAL. However, high operating costs are hurting the bottom line.

Over the past 90 days, the stock has seen the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 earnings being revised 10.3% upward. AAL currently carries a Zacks Rank #3.

Brentwood, TN-based Delek US Holdings is an independent refiner, transporter and marketer of petroleum products. DK’s extensive downstream operations within the Permian Basin grant it a fairly significant competitive edge over its peers in the long term.

Delek US Holdings currently carries a Zacks Rank #3. DK surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in three of the past four quarters (missing the mark in the other one). The average beat is 28.8%.

Ford’s vehicle lineup, supported by F-series trucks, Maverick pickup and SUV models, combined with a robust electric vehicle lineup, should drive growth. The company’s investor-friendly attitude is commendable as well.

Ford currently carries a Zacks Rank #3. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for F’s 2024 earnings has been revised 3.2% upward over the past 60 days.

You can get the rest of the stocks on this list by signing up now for a 2-week free trial to the Research Wizard stock picking and backtesting software. You can also create your own strategies and test them first before making investments.

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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