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5 Top Relative Price Strength Stocks to Buy Hand Over Fist

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Whether a stock has the potential to offer considerable returns is determined primarily by its earnings and valuation ratios. Simultaneously, it is essential to check whether its price performance exceeds its peers or the industry average.

Upon such comparison, if we find that a stock is unable to match up to wider sectoral growth despite having impressive earnings momentum or valuation multiples, it may be better to avoid it.

However, those outperforming their respective industries or benchmarks should be included in your portfolio since they have a higher chance of securing significant returns. Picking a stock that outperforms its peers ensures that you have a winning option on your hands.

Then again, it is imperative that you determine whether or not an investment has relevant upside potential when considering stocks with significant relative price strength. Stocks delivering better than the S&P 500 over a period of 1 to 3 months at least and having solid fundamentals indicate room for growth and are the best ways to go about this strategy.

Finally, it is important to find out whether analysts are optimistic about the upcoming earnings of these companies. In order to do this, we have added positive estimate revisions for the current quarter’s (Q1) earnings to our screen. When a stock undergoes an upward revision, it leads to additional price gains.

Screening Parameters

Relative % Price change – 12 weeks greater than 0

Relative % Price change – 4 weeks greater than 0

Relative % Price change – 1 week greater than 0


(We have considered those stocks that have been outperforming the S&P 500 over the last 12 weeks, four weeks and one week.)

% Change (Q1) Est. over 4 Weeks greater than 0: Positive current-quarter estimate revisions over the last four weeks.

Zacks Rank equal to 1: Only Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks — that have returned more than 26% annually over the last 26 years and surpassed the S&P 500 in 23 of the last 26 years — can get through. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Current Price greater than or equal to $5 and Average 20-day Volume greater than or equal to 50,000: A minimum price of $5 is a good standard to screen low-priced stocks, while a high trading volume would imply adequate liquidity.

VGM Score less than or equal to B: Our research shows that stocks with a VGM Score of A or B when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 or 2 (Buy) offer the best upside potential.

Here are five of the 12 stocks that made it through the screen:

Evercore (EVR - Free Report) : Founded in 1995 and headquartered in New York, Evercore is a premier global independent investment banking advisory firm. The company has a VGM Score of A and an excellent earnings surprise history. It surpassed estimates in each of the last four quarters, delivering an earnings surprise of 96.28%, on average.

Signet Jewelers Limited (SIG - Free Report) : It is primarily a retailer of diamond jewelry and watches.  Signet Jewelers has a VGM Score of A. Over the past 30 days, this Hamilton, Bermuda-based firm saw the Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2022 improve 11.1%.

Ryder System, Inc. (R - Free Report) : Ryder System is recognized as one of the world's largest providers of integrated logistics and transportation solutions. The 2021 Zacks Consensus Estimate for this Miami, FL-based firm indicates astounding 2,907.41% earnings per share growth over 2020. Ryder System has a VGM Score of A.

Olin Corporation (OLN - Free Report) : Olin is a vertically integrated global producer and distributor of chemical products and U.S. maker of ammunition. Carrying a VGM Score of A, this Clayton, MO-based company’s expected EPS growth rate for three to five years is currently 52.6%, which compares favorably with the industry's growth rate of 20.3%.

APA Corporation (APA - Free Report) : This Houston, TX-based firm is one of the largest oil producers in the Permian Basin, apart from holding acreage in offshore Suriname (South America). APA has a VGM Score of A and an excellent earnings surprise history of 36.72%, on average, for the last four quarters.

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.

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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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