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5 ROE Stocks to Profit as Trade War Spurs Volatility

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The U.S. equity market has witnessed intense volatility in the past few days as relatively solid June-quarter performance was negated by continued trade war skirmishes with China and softness in the European economy. With China devaluating its currency against the U.S. dollar to negate the effects of the proposed tariffs and President Trump pledging to take ‘stern action’, the markets bore the brunt of the geopolitical crisis and its cascading effect on the bilateral trade. As investors employ a wait-and-see approach in a classic example of “backing and filling” in the market, they can benefit from ‘cash cow’ stocks that garner higher returns.

However, singling out cash-rich stocks alone does not make for a solid investment proposition unless these are backed by attractive efficiency ratios, like return on equity (ROE).  A high ROE ensures that the company is reinvesting its cash at a high rate of return.

Why ROE?

ROE = Net Income/Shareholders’ Equity

ROE helps investors distinguish profit-generating companies from profit burners and is useful in determining the financial health of a company. In other words, this financial metric enables investors to identify stocks that diligently deploy cash for higher returns.

Moreover, ROE is often used to compare the profitability of a company with other firms in the industry — the higher, the better. It measures how well a company is multiplying its profits without investing new equity capital and portrays management’s efficiency in rewarding shareholders with attractive risk-adjusted returns.

Screening Parameters

In order to shortlist stocks that are cash rich with high ROE, we have added Cash Flow greater than $1 billion and ROE greater than X-Industry as our primary screening parameters. In addition, we have taken a few other criteria into consideration to arrive at a winning strategy.

Price/Cash Flow lesser than X-Industry: This metric measures how much investors pay for $1 of free cash flow. A lower ratio indicates that investors need to pay less for a better cash flow-generating stock.

Return on Assets (ROA) greater than X-Industry: This metric determines how much profit a company earns for every dollar of asset, which includes cash, accounts receivable, property, equipment, inventory and furniture. The higher the ROA, the better it is for the company.

5-Year EPS Historical Growth greater than X-Industry: This criterion indicates that continued earnings momentum has translated into solid cash strength.   

Zacks Rank less than or equal to 2: Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy) stocks are known to outperform irrespective of the market environment.

Here are five of the 14 stocks that qualified the screen:

PepsiCo, Inc. (PEP - Free Report) : Headquartered in Purchase, NY, PepsiCo is one of the leading global food and beverage companies. Its complementary brands/businesses include Frito-Lay snacks, Pepsi-Cola beverages, Gatorade sports drinks, Tropicana juices and Quaker foods. This Zacks #2 Ranked company delivered a trailing four-quarter average positive earnings surprise of 2.7%. It has a long-term earnings growth projection of 7%.

T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (TROW - Free Report) : Founded in 1937 and headquartered in Baltimore, T. Rowe Price Group is a global investment management firm that provides a broad array of mutual funds, sub-advisory services and separate account management for individual and institutional investors, retirement plans and financial intermediaries. This Zacks #1 Ranked company delivered a trailing four-quarter average positive earnings surprise of 6%. It has a long-term earnings growth projection of 8.5%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Biogen Inc. (BIIB - Free Report) : Based in Cambridge, MA, Biogen is one of the world’s leading biotechnology companies, which focuses on developing innovative therapies for treating serious neurological and neurodegenerative diseases. The company pulled off a trailing four-quarter average positive earnings surprise of 8.8%. It has a long-term earnings growth projection of 8.4%. Currently, it carries a Zacks Rank #2.

CDW Corporation (CDW - Free Report) : Headquartered in Vernon Hills, IL, CDW Corporation is a leading provider of integrated information technology solutions to small, medium and large business, government, education and healthcare customers in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada. The company has a long-term earnings growth projection of 13.1%. It delivered a trailing four-quarter average positive earnings surprise of 8.9%. Currently, it carries a Zacks Rank #2.

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NOC - Free Report) : Based in Falls Church, VA, Northrop supplies a broad array of products and services to the U.S. Department of Defense, including electronic systems, information technology, aircraft, space technology and systems integration services. It came up with a trailing four-quarter average positive earnings surprise of 20.1%. The company has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 12.4%. At present, Northrop holds a Zacks Rank of 2.

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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