Back to top

Image: Bigstock

5 Stocks With Recent Price Strength in a Capricious Market

Read MoreHide Full Article

Wall Street is in the grip of volatility again in April after a good rally in March. Overall, U.S. stock markets have been reeling under severe volatility since the beginning of 2022 barring the second half of March.

Several measures of inflation, such as, CPI, PPI and PCE price index remained elevated at a 40-year high and are showing no signs of a downtrend. The resurgence of COVID-19 cases in China and the lingering war between Russia and Ukraine have delayed any improvement in pandemic-led devastation of the global supply-chain system.

Recently, Fed chairman Jerome Powell, in an IMF event, gave signals that the central bank is likely to raise the benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points in its May FOMC and may be in June too. Fed hiked the lending rate by 25 basis points in its March FOMC.

On Apr 6, the Fed released the minutes of its March FOMC. Fed officials almost unanimously agreed that the central bank must reduce the size of its nearly $9 trillion balance sheet by around $95 per month starting May.

Most U.S. corporates have expressed their severe concerns regarding skyrocketing inflation, which significantly raised the input cost of businesses. A large section of market experts and economists have triggered an alarm bell that soaring inflation, a higher interest rate regime and a more-than-expected hawkish Fed will put the U.S. economy in stagflation in the near future.

At this juncture, a handful of stocks have shown price strength recently. Five of them are — HighPeak Energy Inc. (HPK - Free Report) , Lantheus Holdings Inc. , SilverBow Resources Inc. , Allegheny Technologies Inc. (ATI - Free Report) and Veritiv Corp. .

Here’s How We Arrived at the Picks

We have primarily targeted stocks that have freshly been on a bull run. 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 it would have probably crashed. So, looking at stocks capable of beating the benchmark that they have set for themselves seems rational.

However, recent price strength alone cannot create magic. Therefore, other relevant parameters are needed 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 narrowed down the search from over 7,700 stocks to just five.

Let’s discuss our five picks:

HighPeak Energy is an oil and natural gas company. HPK is engaged in the acquisition, development and production of oil, natural gas and NGL reserves. HighPeak Energy 's assets are primarily located in Howard County TX.  
The stock price of HighPeak Energy has soared 67.5% in the past four weeks.

HPK has an expected earnings growth rate of more than 100% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings improved 3.4% over the last 7 days.

Lantheus Holdings is involved in developing, manufacturing, selling and distributing diagnostic medical imaging agents and products for the diagnosis of cardiovascular and other diseases. LNTH serves to hospitals, clinics, group practices, integrated delivery networks, group purchasing organizations, radiopharmacies and wholesalers.

The stock price of Lantheus Holdings has surged 16.9% in the past four weeks. LNTH has an expected earnings growth rate of more than 100% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings improved 2% over the last 30 days.

SilverBow Resources is engaged in the exploration, development and production of oil and natural gas properties. SBOW’s primary project includes the Eagle Ford wells, Burr Ferry, South Bearhead Creek and Lake Washington fields.  

The stock price of SilverBow Resources has advanced 5.2% in the past four weeks. SBOW has an expected earnings growth rate of 64.3% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings improved 38.8% over the last 7 days.

Allegheny Technologies is a diversified specialty materials producer. ATI is likely to benefit from strength in the high-performance Materials & Components segment and demand growth in the Forgings business.  Higher selling prices and increased market demand are also driving results in the Advanced Alloys & Solutions unit.

Allegheny Technologies is also focused on improving the cost structure.  The company has efficiently managed capital expenditure, by adjusting its capital spending to meet the new demand levels.  ATI is in the process of finishing several self-funded capital projects. ATI’s exit from low-margin standard stainless sheet products is also expected to drive margins in its Advanced Alloys & Solutions segment.

The stock price of Allegheny Technologies has gained 2.3% in the past four weeks. ATI has an expected earnings growth rate of more than 100% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings improved 2.9% over the last 7 days.

Veritiv 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 stock price of Veritiv has risen 0.7% in the past four weeks. VRTV has an expected earnings growth rate of 63.2% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings improved 4.6% over the last 30 days.

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 to day. 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.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


ATI Inc. (ATI) - free report >>

HighPeak Energy, Inc. (HPK) - free report >>

Published in