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Upgraded Broker Ratings Make These 5 Stocks Attractive

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With the first-quarter earnings season ramping up, one should keep an eye on the financial performance of companies. But betting on stocks just based on their quarterly performances is not the right long-term investment strategy.

Several technical and fundamental aspects have to be taken into account while choosing stocks with steady performance. Hence, expert advice comes in handy while picking such stocks.

One can easily choose attractive stocks by following the broker upgrades. Brokers have deeper understanding of what’s happening in a particular company. Also, they thoroughly analyze the strengths and weaknesses of a company and consider them against the present economic backdrop to figure out how the stock will fare as an investment.

Additionally, brokers directly communicate with top management, attend conference calls and go through the company’s publicly available financial documents. They even talk to the customers to understand their likes/dislikes for the products and services offered by the company.

So, when a broker upgrades a stock, one can definitely rely on it. But merely depending on it is not wise though. One must take into consideration several other factors to ensure strong returns.

Picking the Winning Strategy

We have a screening strategy that will help 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: 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 13 stocks that made it through the screen:

Headquartered in New Albany, OH, Commercial Vehicle Group, Inc. (CVGI - Free Report) designs, engineers, produces, and sells various cab related products and systems. The company boasts a strong surprise history, with a trailing four-quarter average beat of 173.6%. The stock witnessed 66.7% upward revisions in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

Pittsburgh, PA based United States Steel Corporation (X - Free Report) produces and sells flat-rolled and tubular steel products. Over the trailing four quarters, the company delivered an average positive surprise of 630.6%. The stock witnessed 11.9% upward revision in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

DXC Technology Company Common S (DXC - Free Report) , headquartered in Tysons, VA, provides information technology services and solutions. Over the trailing four quarters, the company delivered an average positive surprise of 16.6%. The stock witnessed 10.6% upward revision in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

Headquartered in Wilmington, DE, The Chemours Company (CC - Free Report) provides performance chemicals. The company boasts a strong surprise history, with a trailing four-quarter average beat of 151.6%. The stock witnessed 14.3% upward revisions in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

Boise, ID based Micron Technology Inc. (MU - Free Report) provides semiconductor systems. Over the trailing four quarters, the company delivered an average positive surprise of 23.5%. The stock witnessed 14% 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 back testing 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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