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5 Stocks With Upgraded Broker Ratings Worth Betting on Now

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It’s not easy for an individual investor to pick stocks on his own and gain from it, given several fundamental and technical aspects that need to be considered for spotting potential winners. This is where expert advice comes in handy.

As brokers are in direct communication with companies, they have deeper understanding about them. Hence, following what majority of brokers are saying about a stock can help one understand its potential easily.     

Additionally, they analyze fundamentals of a company and place them against the current economic backdrop to understand out how the stock will fare as an investment. Further, brokers have a deeper insight of the overall industry and economy.

Specifically, brokers analyze a company’s publicly available financial statements, attend conference calls and communicate directly with top management. They even talk to customers to understand what they like or dislike about the products and services offered by the company.

Therefore, there’s comprehensive research behind the rating of a broker on a company’s stock. Naturally, when an analyst upgrades a stock, one can easily rely on it.

Nonetheless, it’s not wise to solely depend on broker upgrades to build an investment portfolio. One must also take into consideration certain other factors to ensure steady returns.

Choosing the Winning Strategy

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

Broker Rating Upgrades (four 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 of 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 five of the eight stocks that qualified the screening:

Exantas Capital Corp. , based in New York, is a real estate investment trust, which mainly focuses on the origination, holding, and management of commercial mortgage loans and commercial real estate-related debt investments. Its earnings are expected to jump 47.9% in 2019. The stock, carrying a Zacks Rank #2, has witnessed 33.3% upward revision in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

Based in Eagle, ID, Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (LW - Free Report) produces, distributes, and markets value-added frozen potato products. Its fiscal 2019 earnings are expected to rise 19.9%. The stock, carrying a Zacks Rank #2, has witnessed 20% upward revision in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMY - Free Report) , headquartered in New York, discovers, develops, licenses, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products. Its earnings are expected to increase 5% in 2019. The stock, sporting a Zacks Rank #1, has witnessed 10% upward revision in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

Amedisys, Inc. (AMED - Free Report) provides healthcare services. Current-year earnings for this Baton Rouge, LA-based company are projected to increase12.4%. The stock, carrying a Zacks Rank #2, has witnessed 8.3% upward revision in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

Computer Programs and Systems, Inc. , headquartered in Mobile, AL,provides healthcare information technology solutions and services. The company’s earnings are expected to increase 4% in 2019. The stock, carrying a Zacks Rank #2, has witnessed 11.1% 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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Bristol Myers Squibb Company (BMY) - free report >>

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