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5 Stocks with Upgraded Broker Ratings to Bet on Right Now

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Given the fairly positive market sentiments since the election results, it is just the correct time to pick a few good stocks for your investment portfolio. Nonetheless, the task is easier said than done as all the stocks are witnessing bullish trends. So, you could end up buying overpriced stocks with not much fundamental strength.

In this situation, guidance from the experts is highly desirable. You can follow rating upgrades by brokers as they have a deeper understanding of stocks, the industries and the overall economy. Also, they communicate with the company executives and even attend conference calls.

In addition, brokers comprehensively study the publicly available company documents and scrutinize the fundamentals. They place these against the present economic scenario to check how the stocks would fare as an investment option. Therefore, when a broker upgrades rating for any company you can easily rely on it.

However, just depending on broker upgrades is not the right way to build your investment portfolio. You should take into consideration certain other factors as well before picking any stock, so that there is solid return.

The Winning Strategy

The following screen will help you in your search for potential winners:

Broker Rating Upgrades (4 weeks): The screen selects stocks that have witnessed broker rating upgrades 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: No matter whether market conditions are good or bad, stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) have a proven record of success. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

VGM Score equal to 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 (Buy) offer the best upside potential.

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

Headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA, Finisar Corporation provides optical subsystems and components for data communication and telecommunication applications across the world. Over last 60 days, the company’s full year estimates went up 1.4%. The stock has witnessed 5.3% upward revisions in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

Secaucus, NJ-based The Children's Place, Inc. (PLCE - Free Report) operates as a children's specialty apparel retailer. Its full year estimates rose 7.9% over the last 60 days. The stock has witnessed 20% upward revision in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. (HA - Free Report) , headquartered in Honolulu, HI, engages in the scheduled air transportation of passengers and cargo. The company’s full year estimate moved up 4.6% in the last 60 days. The stock has witnessed 10.7% upward revision in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

Best Buy Co., Inc. (BBY - Free Report) , based in Richfield, MN operates as a retailer of technology products, services, and solutions in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The company witnessed its full year estimates rise 7.6%  over the last 60 days. The stock has witnessed 3.6% upward revision in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

Dallas, TX -based The Kronos Worldwide, Inc. (KRO - Free Report) produces and markets titanium dioxide pigments (TiO2) worldwide. Over the last 60 days, the company’s full year estimates surged 242.9%. The stock has witnessed 14.3% 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.

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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