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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Central Garden & Pet Company, Ensign Group, LogMeIn, Pool Corp. and Turning Point Brands

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – August 19, 2020 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Central Garden & Pet Company (CENT - Free Report) , The Ensign Group, Inc. (ENSG - Free Report) , LogMeIn, Inc. , Pool Corporation (POOL - Free Report) and Turning Point Brands, Inc. (TPB - Free Report) .

Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:

5 Low-Risk Stocks to Buy for Election-Led Price Swings

The U.S. presidential elections are less than three months away, and market pundits are already expecting prolonged political uncertainty to stoke stock market gyration in the near term. Typically, the race to White House tightens in the month of September and October, resulting in higher bouts of volatility in the equity market.

In fact, investors and traders this time around are expecting a possible market tumble later this year, as President Trump could delay the election fearing disruption in voting system. Moreover, the lack of clarity in polls so far on a win by a Democrat or Republican is resulting in more speculation.

The election worries amplify concerns about an economy that is struggling to emerge from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. More people are bearish as election uncertainty will occur in the cooler months, which may also bring on more coronavirus-led infections, leading to a possible shut down of the economy. Lest we forget, economic recovery hasn’t gathered pace yet, in fact it has particularly been slow as recently seen in retail sales and jobs data.

What’s more, the month of October and November traditionally tend to be the wildest months of the year anyway, and the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX), a measure of expected volatility in the upcoming 30 trading days, has always risen an average of nearly four points the month before the presidential election.

Last but not the least, it will be too early to bank on a V-shaped recovery. What’s more, the market can again touch the Mar 23 lows since it is currently driven on sentiment, and any discouraging news on the pandemic might hurt investor confidence.

Market is Likely to Waver: Buy 5 Low-Volatility Stocks Now

As Wall Street is likely to grapple with election-led uncertainty in the near term, low-volatility stocks appear as a good bet at the moment. After all, these stocks tend to hold up better in tough times and have done pretty well over longer periods of time. 

In order to screen low-volatility stocks or which are inherently less volatile than the markets they trade in, low beta needs to be considered. In this case, a low beta range from 0 to 1. By the way, beta is a measure of volatility that shows how closely a stock’s price movement correlates with a benchmark.

Further, we have selected such low-beta stocks that flaunt a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Central Garden Pet produces and distributes products to lawn and garden, and pet supplies markets in the United States. The company has a beta of 0.37. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has moved 21.1% north over the past 60 days. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 21.9%.

The Ensign Group provides health care services in the post-acute care continuum and other ancillary businesses. The company has a beta of 0.86. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has advanced 13.4% over the past 60 days. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 28.6%.

LogMeIn provides a portfolio of cloud-based communication and collaboration, identity and access, and customer engagement and support solutions. The company has a beta of 0.74. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has climbed 19.6% over the past 60 days. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 17.3%.

Pool Corp. distributes swimming pool supplies, equipment, and related leisure products in the United States. The company has a beta of 0.87. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has moved up 9.9% over the past 60 days. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the next quarter and year is 25% and 18.4%, respectively.

Turning Point Brands provides tobacco products in the United States. The company has a beta of 0.86. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has risen 31.7% over the past 60 days. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 33.9%.

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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit http://www.zacks.com/performancefor information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

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