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5 Stocks With Recent Price Strength Amid Robust Reopening

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The U.S. economy is going through robust economic recovery despite the threat of the Delta strain of coronavirus and mounting inflation. Most parts of the U.S. economy have already reopened. The Dow and the S&P 500 registered all-time highs on Aug 16 and Nasdaq Composite posted an all-time high on Aug 5.

U.S. businesses irrespective of their size are expanding their scale of operations and hiring more despite soaring wages and salaries to cater to robust demand. The personal savings of Americans are around an astonishing $2 trillion. The sky-high savings are allowing people to fulfill their demands that were pent up during lockdowns and are in turn compelling businesses to expand their scale of operations.

On Aug 10, the U.S. Senate passed a bipartisan infrastructure bill of $550 billion in addition to the previously approved funds of $450 billion for five years. Total spending may go up to $1.2 trillion if the plan is extended to eight years.

Infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges, passenger rails, airports, drinking water and waste-water systems, high-speed Internet, and climate-related infrastructure will benefit. The bill is now headed to the House of Representatives for discussions and vote.

The U.S. economy grew 6.3% and 6.5% in the first and the second quarter of 2021, respectively. Moreover, in absolute term, U.S. GDP in second-quarter 2021 exceeded the pre-pandemic level. Per the estimate projected by several globally renowned financial agencies and investment bankers, the U.S. economy is expected to grow 6.5-7% on average in 2021.

At this stage, wouldn’t it be a safer strategy to look for stocks that are winners and have the potential to gain further?

Sounds Good? Here’s How to Execute It

One should primarily target stocks that have freshly been on a bull run. Actually, stocks seeing price strength recently have a high chance of carrying the momentum forward.

If a stock is continuously witnessing an uptrend, there must be a solid reason or else it would have probably crashed. So, looking at stocks that are capable of beating the benchmark that they have set for themselves seems rational.

However, recent price strength alone cannot create magic. Therefore, you need to set other relevant parameters to create a successful investment strategy.

Here’s how you should create the screen to shortlist the current as well as the potential winners.

Screening Parameters:

Percentage Change in Price (4 Weeks) greater than zero: This criterion shows that the stock has moved higher in the last four weeks.

Percentage Change Price (12 Weeks) greater than 10: This indicates that the stock has seen momentum over the last three months. This lowers the risk of choosing stocks that may have drawn attention due to the overwhelming performance of the overall market in a very short period.

Zacks Rank 1: No matter whether market conditions are good or bad, stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) have a proven history of outperformance. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Average Broker Rating 1: This indicates that brokers are also highly hopeful about the stock’s future performance.

Current Price greater than 5: The stocks must all be trading at a minimum of $5.

Current Price/ 52-Week High-Low Range more than 85%: This criterion filters stocks that are trading near their respective 52-week highs. It indicates that these are strong enough in terms of price.

Just these few criteria have narrowed down the search from over 7,700 stocks to just 12.

Here we present five out of those 12 stocks:

Veritiv Corp. operates as a business-to-business provider of value-added packaging products and services, as well as facility solutions, print, and publishing products and services in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and internationally.

The company’s stock price has soared 30.4% in the past four weeks. It has an expected earnings growth rate of more than 100% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 45.6% over the past 30 days.

Lifetime Brands Inc. (LCUT - Free Report) is a leading designer, marketer and distributor of kitchenware, cutlery & cutting boards, bakeware & cookware, pantryware & spices, tabletop and bath accessories for use at home in the United States and internationally.

The stock price has jumped 26.2% in the past four weeks. The company has an expected earnings growth rate of 46.3% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings improved 6.1% over the past 30 days.

Grindrod Shipping Holdings Ltd. (GRIN - Free Report) operates a diversified fleet of owned, long-term chartered-in and joint-venture owned drybulk and liquid-bulk vessels. It operates primarily in London, Durban, Cape Town, Tokyo and Rotterdam.

The stock price has climbed 20.5% in the past four weeks. The company has an expected earnings growth rate of more than 100% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 10.9% over the past 30 days.

Costamare Inc. (CMRE - Free Report) operates as a containership owner chartering its vessels to liner companies. The company deploys its containership fleet principally under multi-year time charters with leading liner companies that operate regularly scheduled routes between large commercial ports.

The stock price has advanced 16.3% in the past four weeks. The company has an expected earnings growth rate of more than 100% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 7.4% over the past 30 days.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc. (BIO - Free Report) develops, manufactures, and markets life science research and clinical diagnostic products in the United States, Europe, Asia, Canada, and Latin America. It operates in two segments, Life Science and Clinical Diagnostics.

The stock price has risen 16.2% in the past four weeks. The company has an expected earnings growth rate of 35% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 17.6% over the past 30 days.

You can get the rest of the stocks on this list by signing up now for your 2-week free trial to the Research Wizard and start using this screen in your own trading. Further, you can also create your own strategies and test them first before taking the investment plunge.

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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