Top-Rated Stocks to Buy from a Variety of Sectors After Earnings
Outside of popular names in headlines finding stocks that appear to be on a path to prosperity after reporting quarterly results is not always easy.
Still, there are several stocks from a variety of sectors that have become more intriguing following their quarterly reports last Monday.
While these companies may not be the household names that garnish attention, they are worthy of consideration and it looks like a good time to buy their stocks.
Utilities Sector
Among the Zacks Utilities sector American States Water AWR and Essential Utilities WTRG are two stocks to consider at the moment with generous dividend yields at 1.97% and 3.23% respectively.
After impressively surpassing second-quarter top and bottom line expectations last Monday, American States stock is very attractive at the moment. Earnings of $0.83 per share topped Q2 estimates by 5% and sales of $157.40 million crushed expectations of $128 million by 23%. Plus, American States’ annual earnings are now expected to soar 30% in fiscal 2023 to $2.96 per share compared to EPS of $2.28 in 2022.
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Essential Utilities did not post such stellar Q2 results but is shaping up to be a sound investment with steady growth. The company was able to reach Q2 earnings expectations with EPS at $0.34 despite sales of $436.70 million missing top-line estimates by 6%.
With that being said, Essential’s annual earnings are now projected to be up 5% this year and rise another 7% in FY24 to $2.00 per share. Even better, Essential’s 3.23% dividend yield beats the industry average of 2% and towers over the S&P 500’s 1.44% average.
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Medical Sector
BellRing Brands BRBR is starting to stick out in the Zacks Medical sector as the nutrition products provider continues to impress.
Reporting its fiscal third-quarter results last week, earnings of $0.34 per share beat expectations by 6% with sales of $445.90 million topping estimates by 1%. Earnings were up 9% YoY with Q3 sales climbing 20% from a year ago. Intriguingly, BellRing has now surpassed EPS estimates for seven consecutive quarters with double-digit percentage growth expected on the company’s annual top and bottom lines in FY23 and FY24.
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Finance Sector
When it comes to a robust bottom line, Primerica PRI is a company to watch. Belonging to the Zacks Finance sector, Primerica is a very intriguing insurance company that provides underwriting for term life insurance along with offerings for mutual funds, variable annuities, and other financial products.
Primerica’s Q2 earnings came in at $3.99 per share and 5% above estimates of $3.79 a share. More impressive, this soared 39% from earnings of $2.86 a share in Q2 2022. Primerica slightly missed top-line estimates by -2% with Q2 sales at $689.57 million but this was still up 2% from the prior year quarter.
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Furthermore, the earnings beat helped reconfirm Primerica’s massive earnings potential with EPS expected to expand 36% this year to $15.55 per share compared to $11.44 a share in 2022.
Better still, earnings are forecasted to jump another 11% in FY24 to $17.32 per share. Primerica offers a modest 1.24% dividend yield and earnings estimate revisions are up over the last 60 days.
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Bottom Line
Following their favorable quarterly reports, the earnings outlook for these top-rated stocks is indeed compelling. At the moment they all land a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and offer exposure to a variety of sectors that can help diversify investors’ portfolios.
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Primerica, Inc. (PRI) : Free Stock Analysis Report
American States Water Company (AWR) : Free Stock Analysis Report
BellRing Brands Inc. (BRBR) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Essential Utilities Inc. (WTRG) : Free Stock Analysis Report
