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Chicago, IL – January 3, 2024 – Stocks in this week’s article are NRG Energy, Inc. (NRG - Free Report) .
Finding the Best Value Stocks at the Start of 2024
The Nasdaq tumbled through early afternoon trading on Tuesday following the New Year's Day holiday. Big moves lower from Apple and other big tech names drove the downbeat start to 2024 trading as investors took some profits following the fierce early December rally.
The selling on Tuesday and the relatively sideways movement in the back half of last month showcase that investors are acting rationally since stocks cannot go straight up. Stocks and indexes always slide down to key moving averages before they can return on their upward journey.
Thankfully, the dips might be bought up quickly as more investors big and small chase returns in 2024 as rates fall. No matter what, many investors likely want to find strong value this year following the tech-heavy 2023 rebound.
Today we show investors how to screen for stocks that offer a great combination of enticing valuation levels and improving earnings outlooks to consider buying to kick off 2024.
The screen is pretty simple, yet powerful. Here is one of the seven stocks that made it through this week's screen...
NRG Energy, Inc.
NRG Energy is a utilities powerhouse that generates electricity and provides energy solutions and natural gas to millions of business and residential customers. The Houston, Texas-based company is rolling out more digital-focused efforts as electric grids, homes, and businesses grow more high-tech.
These tech-focused efforts include NRG's acquisition of Vivint Smart Home in March 2023. The beefed-up and diversified NRG boasts a network of approximately 7.3 million customers.
NRG can bundle offerings for utilities, home security, automation, and more to thrive in a smart home/building world. The completion of the deal did, however, help spur an activist investor to push to force NRG to focus on returning more value to shareholders.
NRG on November 20 said that it was replacing its CEO and shaking up the board. NRG also announced a new $950 million accelerated share repurchase deal in November.
NRG's adjusted earnings are projected to climb by 93% in FY23 and 18% higher next year. Plus, its earnings outlook has improved significantly recently, with its most accurate/most recent EPS estimates coming in solidly above consensus to help it land a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). Its dividend yields 2.9% at the moment vs. the Utilities sector's 3.5%.
NRG shares have soared 60% over the last 12 months to trade right near fresh all-time highs and blow away the Utilities sector's -7% dip. NRG has also climbed by 80% in the past decade vs. its sector's 11% run.
Utilities appear poised for a comeback after a rough stretch, with the sector up 12% during the past three months. Despite its outperformance and its recent surge to new highs, NRG trades at a 27% discount to the Utilities sector and right near its 10-year median at 10.2X forward 12-month earnings.
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.
About Screen of the Week
Zacks.com created the first and best screening system on the web earning the distinction as the "#1 site for screening stocks" by Money Magazine. But powerful screening tools is just the start. That is why Zacks created the Screen of the Week to highlight profitable stock picking strategies that investors can actively use.
Strong Stocks that Should Be in the News
Many are little publicized and fly under the Wall Street radar. They're virtually unknown to the general public. Yet today's 220 Zacks Rank #1 "Strong Buys" were generated by the stock-picking system that has more than doubled the market from 1988 through 2016. Its average gain has been a stellar +25% per year. See these high-potential stocks free >>.
Zacks Investment Research is under common control with affiliated entities (including a broker-dealer and an investment adviser), which may engage in transactions involving the foregoing securities for the clients of such affiliates.
Zacks.com provides investment resources and informs you of these resources, which you may choose to use in making your own investment decisions. Zacks is providing information on this resource to you subject to the Zacks "Terms and Conditions of Service" disclaimer. www.zacks.com/disclaimer.
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 https://www.zacks.com/performancefor information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.
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Chicago, IL – January 3, 2024 – Stocks in this week’s article are NRG Energy, Inc. (NRG - Free Report) .
Finding the Best Value Stocks at the Start of 2024
The Nasdaq tumbled through early afternoon trading on Tuesday following the New Year's Day holiday. Big moves lower from Apple and other big tech names drove the downbeat start to 2024 trading as investors took some profits following the fierce early December rally.
The selling on Tuesday and the relatively sideways movement in the back half of last month showcase that investors are acting rationally since stocks cannot go straight up. Stocks and indexes always slide down to key moving averages before they can return on their upward journey.
Thankfully, the dips might be bought up quickly as more investors big and small chase returns in 2024 as rates fall. No matter what, many investors likely want to find strong value this year following the tech-heavy 2023 rebound.
Today we show investors how to screen for stocks that offer a great combination of enticing valuation levels and improving earnings outlooks to consider buying to kick off 2024.
The screen is pretty simple, yet powerful. Here is one of the seven stocks that made it through this week's screen...
NRG Energy, Inc.
NRG Energy is a utilities powerhouse that generates electricity and provides energy solutions and natural gas to millions of business and residential customers. The Houston, Texas-based company is rolling out more digital-focused efforts as electric grids, homes, and businesses grow more high-tech.
These tech-focused efforts include NRG's acquisition of Vivint Smart Home in March 2023. The beefed-up and diversified NRG boasts a network of approximately 7.3 million customers.
NRG can bundle offerings for utilities, home security, automation, and more to thrive in a smart home/building world. The completion of the deal did, however, help spur an activist investor to push to force NRG to focus on returning more value to shareholders.
NRG on November 20 said that it was replacing its CEO and shaking up the board. NRG also announced a new $950 million accelerated share repurchase deal in November.
NRG's adjusted earnings are projected to climb by 93% in FY23 and 18% higher next year. Plus, its earnings outlook has improved significantly recently, with its most accurate/most recent EPS estimates coming in solidly above consensus to help it land a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). Its dividend yields 2.9% at the moment vs. the Utilities sector's 3.5%.
NRG shares have soared 60% over the last 12 months to trade right near fresh all-time highs and blow away the Utilities sector's -7% dip. NRG has also climbed by 80% in the past decade vs. its sector's 11% run.
Utilities appear poised for a comeback after a rough stretch, with the sector up 12% during the past three months. Despite its outperformance and its recent surge to new highs, NRG trades at a 27% discount to the Utilities sector and right near its 10-year median at 10.2X forward 12-month earnings.
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For the rest of this Screen of the Week article please visit Zacks.com at: https://www.zacks.com/commentary/2204622/finding-the-best-value-stocks-to-buy-to-start-2024
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.
About Screen of the Week
Zacks.com created the first and best screening system on the web earning the distinction as the "#1 site for screening stocks" by Money Magazine. But powerful screening tools is just the start. That is why Zacks created the Screen of the Week to highlight profitable stock picking strategies that investors can actively use.
Strong Stocks that Should Be in the News
Many are little publicized and fly under the Wall Street radar. They're virtually unknown to the general public. Yet today's 220 Zacks Rank #1 "Strong Buys" were generated by the stock-picking system that has more than doubled the market from 1988 through 2016. Its average gain has been a stellar +25% per year. See these high-potential stocks free >>.
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Zacks Investment Research is under common control with affiliated entities (including a broker-dealer and an investment adviser), which may engage in transactions involving the foregoing securities for the clients of such affiliates.
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Visit: https://www.zacks.com/
Zacks.com provides investment resources and informs you of these resources, which you may choose to use in making your own investment decisions. Zacks is providing information on this resource to you subject to the Zacks "Terms and Conditions of Service" disclaimer. www.zacks.com/disclaimer.
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 https://www.zacks.com/performancefor information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.