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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Advanced Energy Industries, Entegris, Jones Lang LaSalle, Kronos Worldwide and Wal-Mart Stores

WF vs. BEN: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – Dec 19, 2017 – 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 Advanced Energy Industries Inc. AEIS, Entegris Inc. ENTG, Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. JLL, Kronos Worldwide Inc. KRO and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. WMT.

Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free.

Here are highlights from Monday’s Analyst Blog:

5 Secret Santa Stocks to Buy Ahead of Christmas

The broad stock market is sizzling this holiday season thanks to solid corporate earnings and improving economic fundamentals. Total earnings for the S&P 500 index are expected to be up from 0.7% growth seen in 2016 to 7.6% for 2017 and 11.6% for 2018.

Meanwhile, the economy expanded at the fastest clip in three years in best back-to-back quarters with at least 3% GDP growth and unemployment at the lowest level of 4.1% since December 2000. Americans are highly optimistic about the economy with consumer confidence climbing to the highest level in 17 years. Additionally, the combination of other factors like a jump in oil price and higher interest rates are fueling growth (read: Oil ETFs Head-to-Head: BNO vs. USO).

The Trump effect is adding to the holiday spirit with a tax cut on its way to Congress and the final signature of the bill highly anticipated. This is especially true, as a massive $1.4-trillion tax cut will create an economic surge, boosting job growth and reflation trade. It will further accelerate earnings, leading to increased dividend and buyback activities. Notably, the tax legislation could double the growth pace of earnings in 2018.

Moreover, Santa rally is coming up and would provide further boost to stocks. A Santa rally refers to the increase in stock prices in the final week of the calendar year (i.e. between Christmas and New Year’s Day) that extends into the first two days of the New Year.

Against such a backdrop, while most of the stocks have been surging over the past one month, there are some hidden gems or Secret Santa as we call them that could surprise investors with big returns this Christmas based on the current trends. We have highlighted some of these in detail below:

Here, we have used the Zacks stock screener to find five picks that are in the red from a one-month look but carry a Zacks Rank #1 or 2, VGM Style Score of ‘B’ or better, and a Zacks Industry Rank in the top 30%, and have witnessed positive earnings estimate revision.

Advanced Energy Industries Inc.

This Colorado-based company is a global leader in the development and support of technologies critical to high-technology, high-growth manufacturing processes used in the production of semiconductors, flat panel displays, data storage products, solar cells, architectural glass, and other advanced product applications. The stock has seen positive earnings estimate revision of 3 cents for this year over the past 30 days, with an average earnings growth of 50.08%. It has a market cap of $2.79 billion and boasts a top Industry Rank in the top 1%. The stock has shed about 14.1% in the last one-month period. ATVI has a Zacks Rank #2 and a VGM Style Score of B.

Entegris Inc.

This Massachusetts-based company is a leading provider of materials management solutions to the microelectronics industry including, the semiconductor manufacturing and disk manufacturing markets. The stock has seen positive earnings estimate revision of a couple of cents for this year over the past 30 days with an average growth rate of 48.09%. It has a market cap of $4.17 billion and shed 0.6% over the past one month. Entegris has a Zacks Rank #1 and a VGM Style Score of A, and falls in a strong industry having a Rank in the top 9%.

Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.

This Illinois-based full-service real estate firm provides management services, corporate and financial services and investment management services to corporations and other real estate owners, users and investors worldwide. With a market cap of $6.81 billion, the company has seen solid earnings estimate revision of 8 cents over the past 30 days for this year and an expected earnings growth rate of 3.38%. Jones Lang LaSalle is down about 3% in the same time frame and has a solid Industry Rank in the top 13%. It has a Zacks Rank #1 and a VGM Style Score of A. You can seethe complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Kronos Worldwide Inc.

With a market cap of $2.92 billion, this is a Texas-based global producer and marketer of value-added titanium dioxide pigments. Its shares have dropped 7.3% over the past one-month period. The company has seen solid earnings estimate revision of a couple of cents for this year over the past 30 days with an expected earnings growth of 425.81%. The stock boasts a solid Industry Rank in the top 24%, and has a Zacks Rank #1 and a VGM Style Score of A.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

This Arkansas-based company operates retail stores in various formats worldwide. The stock saw positive earnings estimate revision by a penny for this fiscal year over the past 30 days, with an average earnings growth of 2.50%. It has a market cap of $286 billion and shed about 2.5% over the past one month. WMT has a Zacks Rank #2 with a VGM Style Score of B and falls in the industry having a Zacks Rank in the top 26% (read: Will Wal-Mart ETFs Outdo Amazon in Last-Minute Shopping?).

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Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1 Stock of the Day pick for free.

About Zacks Equity Research

Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.

Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.

Strong Stocks that Should Be in the News

Many are little publicized and fly under the Wall Street radar. They're virtually unknown to the general public. Yet today's 220 Zacks Rank #1 "Strong Buys" were generated by the stock-picking system that has nearly tripled the market from 1988 through 2015. Its average gain has been a stellar +26% per year.See these high-potential stocks free >>.

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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/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.


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Entegris, Inc. (ENTG) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Kronos Worldwide Inc (KRO) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (JLL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (AEIS) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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