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5 Stocks With Recent Price Strength Amid Solid Economic Data

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U.S. stock markets are suffering from extreme volatility in 2022 with no sign of effective recovery in the near future. Mounting inflation, higher interest rate regime together with tighter monetary control and a prolonged war between Russia and Ukraine significantly dented investors’ confidence in risky assets like equities.

However, several economic data for May and April indicated that the fundamentals of the economy remain strong. The latest is the nonfarm payroll data for May. In 2022, the biggest drivers of the U.S. stock markets should be the nation’s strong economic fundamentals.

The labor market has returned to the pre-pandemic level. Aggregate demand has remained strong despite skyrocketing inflation. The two inflation measures — the CPI and PCE Price index data —dropped marginally in April.

Both manufacturing index and services index, measured by the Institute for Supply Management, have stayed above the 50% mark for the past two years, indicating continued expansion. The Conference Board’s index for U.S. consumer confidence was higher than the consensus mark in May.

Several stocks have shown price strength recently. Five of them are — Photronics Inc. (PLAB - Free Report) , Civitas Resources Inc. (CIVI - Free Report) , Griffon Corp. (GFF - Free Report) , SilverBow Resources Inc. (SBOW - Free Report) and Pangaea Logistics Solutions Ltd. (PANL - Free Report) .

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 24.

Let’s discuss five out of these 24 stocks:

Photronics is engaged in the manufacture and sale of photomask products and services in the United States, Taiwan, Korea, Europe, China, and internationally. PLAB offers photomasks that are used in the manufacture of integrated circuits and flat panel displays and to transfer circuit patterns onto semiconductor wafers, FDP substrates, and other types of electrical and optical components.

The stock price of Photronics has soared 51.2% in the past four weeks. PLAB has an expected earnings growth rate of more than 100% for the current year (ending October 2022). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 27.5% over the last 30 days.

Civitas Resources is a carbon neutral oil & gas producer and is focused on developing and producing crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids principally in Colorado's Denver-Julesburg Basin.

The stock price of CIVI has jumped 43.3% in the past four weeks. Civitas Resources has an expected earnings growth rate of more than 100% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings improved 5.8% over the last 30 days.

Griffon is a diversified management and holding company conducting business through wholly-owned subsidiaries. GFF oversees the operations of its subsidiaries, allocates resources among them and manages their capital structures.

Griffon provides consumer and professional, and home and building products in the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia, and internationally. GFF offers direction and assistance to its subsidiaries in connection with acquisition and growth opportunities and in connection with divestitures.

The stock price of Griffon has climbed 39.7% in the past four weeks. GFF has an expected earnings growth rate of 68.8% for the current year (ending September 2022). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings improved 40% over the last 60 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 surged 37.4% in the past four weeks. SBOW has an expected earnings growth rate of 97.7% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings improved 10.8% over the last 30 days.

Pangaea Logistics provides seaborne drybulk transportation services. PANL provides logistics services to a broad base of industrial customers who require the transportation of a wide variety of dry bulk cargoes, including grains, pig iron, hot-briquetted iron, bauxite, alumina, cement clinker, dolomite, and limestone. Pangaea Logistics provides dry bulk cargo transportation services for steel, aluminum, energy, agricultural, and other sectors.

The stock price of PANL has advanced 36.5% in the past four weeks. Pangaea Logistics has an expected earnings growth rate of 18.4% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings improved 32.5% over the last 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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