Zacks.com featured highlights include James River Group, HSBC, Reinsurance Group of America and Amalgamated Financial

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – September 22, 2022 – Stocks in this week’s article are James River Group Holdings, Ltd JRVR, HSBC Holdings plc HSBC, Reinsurance Group of America RGA and Amalgamated Financial Corp. AMAL.

4 High Earnings Yield Picks to Combat Aggressive Rate Hikes

Except for a short-lived summer rally from mid-June to mid-August, the U.S. stock market has mostly struggled in 2022. A challenging macroeconomic environment has sent stocks tumbling in 2022. Market participants are suffering from supply chain snarls, the Russia-Ukraine war and sky-high inflation. While the Fed has adopted an aggressive monetary stance to tame the stubborn inflation, the efforts haven’t yielded desired results yet. Inflation remains historically elevated, even after the Fed’s hawkish pivot.

All eyes are on the Fed’s official announcement on rates today. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell had been very clear in his message at the Jackson Hole conference that the rate hikes will continue until inflation returns to the 2% target rate. Wall Street is sure that it will jack up its key interest rate by at least 0.75% for a third-straight time when its two-day FOMC meeting ends today.

We have indeed landed in a highly challenging macroeconomic environment after coming out of a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic. With inflation at historically high levels and Fed set to crank borrowing rates further, the threats of recession loom large. Amid all the turmoil and economic uncertainty, markets are likely to remain choppy. In such turbulent times, investors should hunt for fundamentally strong value stocks. James River Group Holdings, Ltd, HSBC Holdings plc, Reinsurance Group of America and Amalgamated Financial Corp. are a few high earnings yield value picks that can fetch handsome rewards.

Value Investing is the Key Now

The market is at a critical juncture right now, with macro-environment challenges abound. With a number of deterrents doing the rounds in the market, it is wise to look for quality while picking stocks. To this end, value investing may be one of the most effective approaches. The value investing approach seeks to profit from investing in quality stocks that appear to be trading at a discount to their intrinsic values and eventually make handsome returns when the stock price rises toward its intrinsic value to reflect the actual fundamentals. Certainly, the value investment strategy best suits investors with a long-term horizon.

When considering valuation metrics, the first ratio that pops into our minds is the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio, given its inherent simplicity. But one can also consider another interesting ratio for picking attractively valued stocks. That is earnings yield. This metric, expressed in percentage, is calculated as annual earnings per share (EPS) divided by market price. It measures the anticipated yield (or return) from earnings for each dollar invested in a stock today.

Earnings Yield Holds an Edge Over P/E

While comparing stocks, if other factors are similar, the one with higher earnings yield is considered undervalued, while those with lower earnings yield are seen as overpriced.

While earnings yield is simply the reciprocal of the P/E ratio, it’s a little more illuminating than the latter. It facilitates the comparison of stocks with fixed-income securities. Investors often compare the earnings yield of a stock to the prevailing interest rates, such as the current 10-year Treasury yield, to get a sense of the return on investment it offers compared to virtually risk-free returns.

If the yield on a stock is lower than the 10-year Treasury yield, it would be considered overvalued relative to bonds. Conversely, if the yield on the stock is higher, it would be considered undervalued. In this situation, investing in the stock market would be a better option for a value investor.

Here are four of the 121 stocks that qualified the screen:

James River: Bermuda-based James River is an insurance company, which owns and operates specialty insurance and reinsurance companies. The company operates through Excess and Surplus Lines, Specialty Admitted Insurance and Casualty Reinsurance segments.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for JRVR’s 2022 earnings and sales suggests year-over-year growth of 137% and 3%, respectively. The consensus mark for James River’s 2022 EPS has moved north by 5 cents in the past 60 days. The stock currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 and has a Value Score of B.

HSBC: Headquartered in London, HSBC provides a wide range of financial services to nearly 64 countries and regions in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, and North and Latin America. As of Jun 30, 2022, it had $2.99 trillion in assets.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HSBC’s 2022 earnings and sales suggests year-over-year growth of 13.2% and 5.4%, respectively. The consensus mark for HSBC’s 2022 EPS has moved north by 31 cents in the past 60 days. The stock currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 and has a Value Score of B.

Reinsurance Group: Headquartered in Timberlake, Reinsurance Group is a leading global provider of traditional life and health reinsurance and financial solutions with operations in the United States, Canada, Europe, and many others.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for RGA’s 2022 earnings and sales suggests year-over-year growth of 1,057.5% and 2.5%, respectively. The consensus mark for Reinsurance Group’s 2022 EPS has moved north by $1.04 in the past 30 days. The stock currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 and has a Value Score of B.

Amalgamated Financial: Headquartered in New York, Amalgamated Financial is the bank holding company for Amalgamated Bank, a full-service commercial bank and a chartered trust company. AMAL provides commercial banking and trust services nationally and offers products and services to both commercial and retail customers.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AMAL’s 2022 earnings and sales suggests year-over-year growth of 42.4% and 24.1%, respectively. AMAL surpassed estimates in the trailing four quarters, the average being 22.6%. The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 and has a Value Score of B.

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For the rest of this Screen of the Week article please visit Zacks.com at: https://www.zacks.com/stock/news/1983013/4-high-earnings-yield-picks-to-combat-aggressive-rate-hikes

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.

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Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated (RGA) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
HSBC Holdings plc (HSBC) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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