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5 Top-Ranked Stocks With Upgraded Broker Ratings to Buy Now

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During an earnings season, market sentiments get influenced by corporate results and management commentary. Though earnings performance is a good indicator of a stock’s future performance, identifying primary growth drivers can become daunting.

Further, the current volatile markets and economic slowdown amid the coronavirus pandemic are big near-term concerns. So, it’s not an easy task for individual investors to pick stocks that will be able to generate solid returns.

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

In addition, brokers comprehensively study the publicly-available company documents and scrutinize 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 for robust gains.

Choosing the Winning Strategy

We have a screening strategy that will help you 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 Scoreof 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 34 stocks that qualified the screening:

Based in Provo, UT, Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. (NUS - Free Report) develops and distributes a wide range of premium cosmetics, beauty, personal care and wellness products. The company’s long-term (three to five years) estimated earnings growth rate is 10.7%. The stock, currently sporting a Zacks Rank #1, has witnessed 33.3% upward revision in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

AutoNation, Inc. (AN - Free Report) — the largest automotive retailer in the United States — offers vehicle maintenance and repair services, vehicle parts, extended service contracts, vehicle protection products, as well as other aftermarket products. This Fort Lauderdale, FL-based company’s long-term estimated earnings growth rate is 4.7%. The stock, sporting a Zacks Rank #1 at present, has witnessed 12.5% upward revision in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

Headquartered in Milwaukee, WI, Rockwell Automation (ROK - Free Report) provides industrial automation and information solutions. Its long-term estimated earnings growth rate is 5.4%. The stock, currently carrying a Zacks Rank #2, has witnessed 6.7% upward revision in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO - Free Report) is an IP-based networking company, which offers products and services to service providers, companies, commercial users and individuals. This San Jose, CA-based company’s long-term estimated earnings growth rate is 5.4%. The stock, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 at present, has witnessed 5% upward revision in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

Atlanta, GA-based FLEETCOR Technologies, Inc. is a global commercial payments solution provider. Its long-term estimated earnings growth rate is 12.3%. The stock, currently carrying a Zacks Rank #2, has witnessed 6.3% 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.

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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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