Buy These 5 Top-Ranked Stocks With Relative Price Strength

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 17 stocks that made it through the screen:

Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc JAZZ: Jazz Pharmaceuticals is a specialty biopharmaceutical company with a focus in the areas of sleep and hematology/oncology. The 2019 Zacks Consensus Estimate for this Dublin, Ireland-based company is $15.81, representing 15.4% earnings per share growth over 2018. Next year’s average forecast is $17.51 pointing to another 10.8% growth. Jazz Pharmaceuticals has a VGM Score of A.

Mr. Cooper Group Inc. COOP: A leading non-bank mortgage service provider in the U.S., Mr. Cooper Group has a VGM Score of A. Over 30 days, the Dallas, TX-based company has seen the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2019 and 2020 increase 25.5% and 11.1%, to $3.45 and $2.50 per share, respectively.

Sonic Automotive, Inc. SAH: Sonic Automotive, headquartered in Charlotte, NC, is one of the leading vehicle retailers in the United States. The firm has a VGM Score of A and an excellent earnings surprise history having surpassed estimates in each of the last four quarters, the average being 31.6%.

Hibbett Sports, Inc. HIBB: Hibbett Sports is a major athletic-inspired retailer, located in small and mid-sized markets across the country. Sporting a VGM Score of A, this Birmingham, AL-headquartered company’s expected EPS growth rate for three to five years currently stands at 12.2%, comparing favorably with the industry's growth rate of 10.1%.

Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated JLL: Founded in 1783 and headquartered in Chicago, IL, Jones Lang LaSalle is a leading full-service real estate firm that provides corporate, financial and investment management services to corporations and other real estate owners, users, and investors worldwide. The company has a VGM Score of A and an impeccable earnings surprise history having surpassed estimates in each of the last four quarters, the average being 27.6%.

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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Sonic Automotive, Inc. (SAH) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Jazz Pharmaceuticals PLC (JAZZ) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (JLL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Hibbett Sports, Inc. (HIBB) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
MR. COOPER GROUP INC (COOP) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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