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Avoid Market Volatility with 5 Low-Beta Stocks

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Don’t follow the crowd especially when it comes in investing money. The crowd believes that only risky securities can give above-market returns. Don’t get into the trap; instead do your own research to come up with lucrative investment strategies.

We agree that risky stocks could generate lucrative returns only when the market is bullish but we also need to consider the converse scenario. In this article, we present a strategy which proves that low risky securities can also reap rewards if some specific parameters are considered.

Beta Understanding

Beta indicates the volatility of a particular stock with respect to the market. In other words, beta measures the extent of stock price movement relative to the market (we are considering S&P 500 here).

If a company has a beta of 1, it means that the relative volatility of the stock is the same as that of the S&P 500. In the same way, if the stock’s beta is greater than 1 then it is more volatile compared to the market. Conversely, a beta below 1 signifies less volatility.

Now, if a portfolio’s beta is 3, it is three times more volatile than the market. Hence, if the market is projected to give 20% return, the portfolio will then definitely contribute 60% return which is amazing.

However, the opposite case also holds true. If the market slips 20% then the portfolio return plummets 60% which is surely a matter of concern.

The Winning Strategy

In our screening criteria we included beta in the range of 0 to 0.6 for short listing low risk stocks. But this can’t be the only criterion for betting on stocks. The other parameters that need to be added to create a winning portfolio are:

Percentage Change in Price in the Last 4 Weeks greater than zero: This ensures that the stocks saw positive price movement over the last one month.

Average 20 Day Volume greater than 50,000: A substantial trading volume ensures that the stocks are easily tradable.

Price greater than or equal to $5: They must all be trading at a minimum of $5 or higher.

Zacks Rank equal to 1: Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks indicate that they will significantly outperform the broader U.S. equity market over the next one to three months.

Here are five of the 17 stocks that qualified the screening:

Headquartered in Harrisburg, PA Ollie's Bargain Outlet Holdings Inc. (OLLI - Free Report) offers products that comprises food, books and stationery, bed and bath, floor coverings, toys and hardware. The company beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the prior four quarters, with an average positive earnings surprise of 16.80%. Moreover, for the current year, we are expecting the company to witness year-over-year earnings growth of 17.9%.

Addus HomeCare Corporation (ADUS - Free Report) , based in Downers Grove, IL offers services like personal care to the aged and younger people with disability in the U.S. The company delivered a positive average earnings surprise of 12.73% for the previous four quarters. Addus HomeCare is expected to post year-over-year earnings growth of 4.3% for 2017.

Based in Austin, TX Luminex Corporation is the marketer and developer of proprietary biological testing technologies and products. For the current year, the company will likely post year-over-year earnings growth of 39.1%. Moreover, over last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate of earnings for full-year 2017 has been revised upward.

Silgan Holdings Inc. (SLGN - Free Report) , headquartered in Stamford, CT is the manufacturer and seller of consumer goods products all over the world. The company came up with an average positive earnings surprise of 5.63% for the last four quarters. Also, for the current year, Silgan Holdings is expected to witness year-over-year earnings growth of 20.4%.

Headquartered in New York,Two Harbors Investment Corp. (TWO - Free Report) , is basically a real estate investment trust. For the current year, the company is projected to grow its earnings 18.7% year-over-year. Moreover, for full-year 2017, the company’s Zacks Consensus Estimate of earnings has been revised upward over a period of prior 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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