The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: ZAGG, HP, ePlus and Methode

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – March 19, 2018 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include ZAGG Inc. ZAGG, HP Inc. HPQ, ePlus Inc. PLUS and Methode Electronics, Inc. MEI.

Here are highlights from Friday’s Analyst Blog:

4  Undervalued Stocks to Buy for a Volatile U.S. Market

After a blockbuster 2017, the year so far has been highly volatile with the market witnessing a massive sell-off in early February due to fear of faster-than-anticipated rate hikes by the Fed in 2018. Since then, it has seen many ups and downs, and we expect the market to trade sideways and remain turbulent due to Trump’s aggressive “Economic Protectionism” policies.

After announcing the imposition of an import tariff of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminium, earlier this month, the Trump administration is now gearing up to take on China's technology and telecommunications sectors, per media sources. The latest tariffs have triggered fears across the globe about a likely trade war, particularly between the United States and China.

All these activities have dominated the attention of investors, overshadowing the upbeat U.S. GDP and unemployment data, consequently keeping the stock market highly strained. And it gets very difficult to make the right investment move in such a dismal scenario.

Undervalued Stocks With Growth Potential

In the current scenario (highly volatile market situation) one should look for stocks that are undervalued but have bright growth prospects. On the other hand, if the market shoots up, these stocks have increased chances of registering higher gains. This implies that undervalued stocks cushion investors from market jitters, while companies’ robust fundamentals ensure solid portfolio returns.

However, it is difficult to pick such kind of multi-faceted stocks from a plethora of investment opportunities.

Now, here the Zacks Style Score comes handy. The Value Style Score will help us filter stocks that are undervalued, while our Growth Style Score condenses all the essential metrics from a company’s financial statements to get a true sense of the quality and sustainability of its growth.

4 Solid Picks

Right now, the tech sector has several potential stocks to choose from. However, the number of stocks, with the right combination of Value and Growth scores of A or B, along with Zacks Buy ratings, is limited.

With the help of our style score system, we have zeroed in on four stocks which look promising based on the encouraging Zacks Rank, and favorable Value and Growth style scores. Along with this, we have also filtered in stocks that have low P/E multiples than the industry average as well as are trading lower to their respective 52-week high.

Our first pick is ZAGG Inc. which has Growth and Value sores of A and B, respectively, and sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). For the current year, the company has an expected EPS growth rate of 34% and currently trades significantly lower to its 52-week high. Also, the stock currently trades at a forward P/E of 12.1x, which is much lower than the industry’s average of 15.0x, to which it belongs to.

Another stock that make to our list is HP Inc., which has Growth and Value sores of A and B, respectively, and carries a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy). For the current fiscal, the company has projected EPS growth rate of 17.2% and trades lower to its 52-week high, at present. The stock currently trades at a forward P/E of 12.1x, which is much lower than its industry’s average of 15.0x.

Investors can also consider ePlus Inc. which has Growth and Value sores of A and B, respectively. For the next fiscal, this Zacks Rank #2 company has an estimated EPS growth rate of 29.1% and currently trades significantly lower to its 52-week high. Currently, the stock trades at a forward P/E of 19.1x, which is much lower than the industry’s average of 23.7x, to which it belongs to.

Next in our list is Methode Electronics, Inc., which has Growth and Value sores of B and A, respectively, and carries a Zacks Rank #2. The company, which has an expected long-term EPS growth rate of 15%, trades lower to its 52-week high currently. Also, it trades at a forward P/E of 15.1x, which is significantly lower than its industry’s average of 25.4x.

The Hottest Tech Mega-Trend of All

Last year, it generated $8 billion in global revenues. By 2020, it's predicted to blast through the roof to $47 billion. Famed investor Mark Cuban says it will produce "the world's first trillionaires," but that should still leave plenty of money for regular investors who make the right trades early.

See Zacks' 3 Best Stocks to Play This Trend >>

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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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