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Try Luck O' the Irish With These Stocks on St. Patrick's Day

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A large number of Americans plan to celebrate the Irish festival of St. Patrick’s Day on Mar 17 this year and spend as much as $5.9 billion, per National Retail Federation. This is the highest level in its 14-year survey history and up from last year’s record of $5.3 billion. Average spending per person is also expected to climb from $37.92 last year to $39.65.

More than 149 million Americans are expected to celebrate the Irish holiday, with 83% wearing green, 31% planning a special dinner, 27% throwing a party at a bar or a restaurant, 27% decorating their homes or offices in an Irish theme and 16% attending private parties. While the day is popular among the 18-24 years age group, the biggest spenders will be the 35-44 years  age group, shelling out at an average of $45.76 for the holiday.

About 50% of the Americans will be spending on holiday-themed food, 41% on beverages, 31% on apparel, 26% on decoration, and 16% on candy. Coming to shopping destinations, 38% purchases will be from grocery stores, 31% from discount stores, 20% from department stores, 19% from bars or restaurants, and 9% online, specialty stores, or drug stores.

Investors should also note that St. Patrick's Day is the fourth largest drinking day in the United States, after New Year's Eve, Christmas, and Fourth of July with Guinness being the most popular brand. Some of the other popular drinks include Irish stout and Irish ale.

Given the splurge in spending, it will not come as a surprise if the stock market could Wearin' o' the Green in the honor of St. Patrick's Day. In particular, retailers, food and beverage companies could see huge jump in their stock prices as higher consumer spending will likely boost their revenues. So, raise a toast to the stocks in these sectors and try to find some hidden luck on this Irish festival.

Diageo Plc (DEO - Free Report)

Based in London, Diageo is a global leader in alcohol beverages and has an outstanding portfolio of world famous brands across spirits, beer, cider, and wine categories. These brands include Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, J&B, Buchanan’s and Windsor whiskies, Smirnoff, Cîroc and Ketel One vodkas, Captain Morgan, Baileys, Don Julio, Tanqueray and Guinness.

The Guinness brand will find its pot of gold as about 13 million pints are expected to be consumed on St. Patrick’s Day. This is nearly four times the consumption on a normal day. Diageo saw positive earnings estimate revision of 33 cents over the past three months for the fiscal year (ending June 2018) with an expected growth of 18.84%. It has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and a VGM Score of C. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Dollar General Corporation (DG - Free Report)

Based in Goodlettsville, Dollar General is a discount retailer in the United States providing various merchandise products in the southern, southwestern, midwestern, and eastern United States. The company offers its merchandise in four categories - highly consumable, seasonal, home products and basic clothing. Highly consumable consists of packaged food, candy, snacks and refrigerated products, health and beauty aids, home cleaning supplies and pet supplies; seasonal consists of seasonal and holiday-related items, toys, stationery and hardware; home products consists of house wares and domestics, and basic clothing consists of casual everyday apparel.

St. Patrick Day themed items are available at Dollar Tree for as low as 75 cents. The stock saw solid earnings estimate revision of 62 cents over the past three months for the fiscal year (ending January 2019) and has an estimated growth rate of 24.34%. It has a Zacks Rank #2 and a VGM Score of B.

Papa Murphy's Holdings, Inc. (FRSH - Free Report)

Based in Vancouver, Papa Murphy's operates as a franchisor and operator of the Take 'N' Bake pizza chain in the United States. In addition to scratch-made pizzas, the company offers a growing menu of grab 'n' go items, including salads, sides and desserts.

For St. Patrick’s Day, the company is offering online a large, thin crust, one-topping pizza for just $3.14. The stock saw positive earnings estimate revision of a penny over the past three months for this year and has an estimated growth rate of 73.33%. It has a Zacks Rank #2 and a VGM Score of B.

Nordstrom Inc. (JWN - Free Report)

Based in Seattle, Nordstrom is a leading fashion specialty retailer offering compelling clothing, shoes and accessories for men, women and children.

The company is selling holiday-themed graphic tees and baseball hats from Vineyard Vines, per Forbes. It saw solid earnings estimate revision of 57 cents over the past three months for the fiscal (ending January 2019) with expected growth of 15.54%. Nordstrom has a Zacks Rank #2 and a VGM Score of A.

Macy's Inc. (M - Free Report)

Based in Cincinnati, Macy’s, one of the nation's premier retailers, operates about 885 stores in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico, under the names of Macy's, Bloomingdale's, Bloomingdale's Outlet and Bluemercury, as well as macys.com, bloomingdales.com and bluemercury.com websites.

The company is selling St. Paddy’s themed T-shirts with shamrock graphic and more. It saw solid earnings estimate revision of $1.13 over the past three months for the fiscal year (ending January 2019) though earnings are expected to decline a modest 3.71%. Macy’s has a Zacks Rank #1 and a VGM Score of A.

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