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4 Top Stocks with Upgraded Broker Ratings to Keep an Eye On

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With overall market sentiments fairly positive, one must not assume that picking stocks would be a cakewalk.  Despite all stocks witnessing a bullish trend, one could end up choosing the wrong ones.

In such a situation, it is prudent to seek help from the pros. One way of doing it is to follow broker rating upgrades. Brokers have a deeper insight into stocks and the overall sectors.

Brokers analyze the company’s publicly available documents, go to conference calls and are in direct communication with top management. Also, they talk to customers to understand what they like or dislike about the products and services offered by the company.

Therefore, there’s an all-inclusive research behind the rating of a broker on a company’s stock. Following what the majority of brokers are saying about a stock can help you gauge its potential. Naturally, when an analyst upgrades a stock, you can easily rely on it.

 However, depending solely on brokers’ upgrades to build your portfolio is not advisable. You must also take into consideration other factors to ensure strong returns.

Choosing the Winning Strategy

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

Broker Rating Upgrades (4 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 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 offer the best upside potential.

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

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT - Free Report) , headquartered in Bentonville, AR, operates retail stores in various formats. Its current year earnings are expected to increase 2.5%. The stock has witnessed 4.2% upward revision in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

Based in Chicago, IL-Conagra Brands, Inc. (CAG - Free Report) operates as a food company. The company’s earnings are expected to increase 9.2% for current fiscal year. The stock has witnessed 11.1% upward revision in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

Headquartered in Hartsville, SC, Sonoco Products Company (SON - Free Report) manufactures and sells industrial and consumer packaging products. The company’s earnings are expected to rise 2.9% in the current year. The stock has witnessed 12.5% upward revision in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

Houston, TX-based Carrizo Oil & Gas, Inc. is engaged in the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas. The company’s earnings are expected to increase 16.2% this year. The stock has witnessed 5.9% upward revision in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

Get the remaining stock 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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