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Add These 5 Stocks with Remarkable Relative Price Strength

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Earnings growth and valuation multiples are indeed important for investors to determine a stock's ability to offer considerable returns. But these are also essential in determining whether a stock’s price performance is better than its peers or the industry average.

If a stock’s performance is lacking that of the broader groups despite impressive earnings growth or valuation multiples, then something must be wrong.

It’s always advisable to stay away from these stocks and bet on those that are outperforming their respective industries or benchmarks. This is because betting on a winner always increases the odds of winning.

Then again, it is imperative that you determine whether or not an investment has relevant upside potential when considering stocks with significant relative price strength. Stocks delivering better than the S&P 500 over a period of 1 to 3 months at the least and having solid fundamentals indicate room for growth and are the best ways to go about this strategy.

Finally, it is important to find out whether analysts are optimistic about the upcoming earnings results of these companies. In order to do this, we have added positive estimate revisions for the current quarter’s (Q1) earnings to our screen. When a stock undergoes an upward revision, it leads to additional price gains.

Screening Parameters

Relative % Price change – 12 weeks greater than 0

Relative % Price change – 4 weeks greater than 0

Relative % Price change – 1 week greater than 0

(We have considered those stocks that have been outperforming the S&P 500 over the last 12 weeks, four weeks and one week.)

% Change (Q1) Est. over 4 Weeks greater than 0: Positive current quarter estimate revisions over the last four weeks.

Zacks Rank equal to 1: Only Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks – that have returned more than 26% annually over the last 26 years and surpassed the S&P 500 in 23 of the last 26 years – can get through. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Current Price greater than or equal to $5 and Average 20-day Volume greater than or equal to 50,000: A minimum price of $5 is a good standard to screen low-priced stocks, while a high trading volume would imply adequate liquidity.

VGM Score less than or equal to B: Our research shows that stocks with a VGM Score of A or B when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 or #2 (Buy) offer the best upside potential.

Here are five of the 14 stocks that made it through the screen:

MasTec, Inc. (MTZ - Free Report) : MasTec is a leading infrastructure construction company operating mainly throughout North America. The 2019 Zacks Consensus Estimate for this Coral Gables, FL-based company is $4.99, representing some 32.4% earnings per share growth over 2018. Next year’s average forecast is $5.40 pointing to another 8.3% growth. MasTec has a VGM Score of A.

OneMain Holdings, Inc. (OMF - Free Report) : OneMain Holdings, headquartered in Evansville, IN, is a consumer finance lending company providing personal loans to non-prime consumers. The firm has a VGM Score of A and an excellent earnings surprise history having surpassed estimates in each of the last four quarters.

Skyline Champion Corporation (SKY - Free Report) : Skyline Champion is a designer, producer and distributor of factory-built housing in the United States and Canada. The FY 2020 Zacks Consensus Estimate for this Elkhart, IN-based company is $1.31, representing some 26% earnings per share growth over FY 2019. Next fiscal year’s average forecast is $1.59 pointing to another 21.4% growth. Skyline Champion has a VGM Score of B.

FTI Consulting, Inc.(FCN - Free Report) : A global business advisory firm aimed at helping organizations manage change, mitigate risk and resolve financial, legal, operational, political and regulatory, reputational and transactional disputes, FTI Consulting has a VGM Score of B. Over 30 days, the Bowie, MD-based company has seen the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2019 and 2020 increase 23.5% and 22.5%, to $5.42 and $5.55 per share, respectively.

Anixter International Inc.: Founded in 1957 and headquartered in Glenview, IL, Anixter International is one of the leading suppliers of network, security, electrical, as well as utility power products and services in the world. The company has a VGM Score of A and a solid earnings surprise history having surpassed estimates in each of the last four quarters.

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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