Zacks.com featured highlights include Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Shift4 Payments, Beacon Roofing Supply, Hooker Furnishings and Hilltop Holdings
For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – December 27, 2023 – Stocks in this week’s article are Amphastar Pharmaceuticals AMPH, Shift4 Payments FOUR, Beacon Roofing Supply BECN, Hooker Furnishings Corp. HOFT and Hilltop Holdings HTH.
5 Good Opportunities on Relative Price Strength Strategy
In 2023, the S&P 500 — regarded as one of the finest reflections of the stock market — has been experiencing a strong period of growth. Last year, the index fell by 19.4% because of extremely high inflation, a stringent money policy, and the Fed raising interest rates a lot.
However, things have completely turned around this year. The inflation rate is steadily going down, important economic measures are cooling off, and investors expect the time of increasing interest rates to be coming to an end. The S&P 500 Index has gone up by nearly 24% this year.
It's expected that the U.S. economy will do well in 2024 because the Fed plans to start lowering interest rates, at least in the first part of the year.
Against this positive backdrop, astute investors are concentrating on relative price performance, strategically identifying and investing in promising stocks to achieve accelerated returns.
Relative Price Strength Strategy
Investors generally gauge a stock's potential returns by examining earnings growth and valuation multiples. At the same time, it's essential to measure the performance of such a stock relative to its industry or peers, or an appropriate benchmark.
If you see that a stock is underperforming on fundamental factors, it would be prudent to move on and find a better alternative. However, those outperforming their respective sectors in terms of price should be selected because they stand a better chance of providing considerable returns.
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 for 1 to 3 months at least and having solid fundamentals indicate room for growth and are the best ways to go about this strategy.
Finally, it is crucial to find out whether analysts are optimistic about the upcoming earnings 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.
Here are five of the 15 stocks that made it through the screen:
Amphastar Pharmaceuticals: Based in Rancho Cucamonga, CA, it is a biopharmaceutical firm that develops, manufactures, and sells generic and proprietary injectable, inhalation, and intranasal products. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals' expected EPS growth rate for three to five years is currently 22.6%, which compares favorably with the industry's growth rate of 11.9%. The company has a VGM Score of B.
Notably, the 2023 Zacks Consensus Estimate for Amphastar Pharmaceuticals indicates 62.9% year-over-year earnings per share growth. The company has a market capitalization of $2.9 billion. AMPH shares have gone up 112.6% in a year.
Shift4 Payments: The company specializes in delivering payment processing services to a diverse clientele through its platform. The 2023 Zacks Consensus Estimate for the Allentown, PA-based firm indicates 110.1% year-over-year earnings per share growth. FOUR has a VGM Score of A.
Shift4 Payments beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in each of the last four quarters. It has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 25%, on average. FOUR shares have gained 37.6% in a year.
Beacon Roofing Supply: It is the largest publicly traded distributor of residential and non-residential roofing materials and complementary building products in North America. The 2023 Zacks Consensus Estimate for this firm indicates 9.2% year-over-year earnings per share growth. Headquartered in Herndon, VA, BECN has a VGM Score of A.
Beacon Roofing beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in each of the last four quarters. It has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of roughly 11.1%, on average. BECN shares have shot up 65.3% in a year.
Hooker Furnishings Corp.: Based in Martinsville, VA, the company is a manufacturer and importer of residential household and contract furniture. Over the past 60 days, Hooker Furnishings saw the Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2024 move up 76.8%. HOFT has a VGM Score of A.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Hooker Furnishings' fiscal 2024 earnings indicates 12.4% year-over-year growth. It has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of roughly 150%, on average. HOFT shares have increased 48.1% in a year.
Hilltop Holdings: Based in Dallas, TX, Hilltop Holdings offers a wide range of financial products and services through broker-dealer along with mortgage origination. Over the past 60 days, the company saw the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2023 move up 6.5%. HTH has a VGM Score of B.
The 2023 Zacks Consensus Estimate for Hilltop Holdings indicates 3.1% year-over-year earnings per share growth. It has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of roughly 30%, on average. HTH shares have gained 17.6% in a year.
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
For the rest of this Screen of the Week article please visit Zacks.com at: https://www.zacks.com/stock/news/2202102/5-good-opportunities-on-relative-price-strength-strategy
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.
About Screen of the Week
Zacks.com created the first and best screening system on the web earning the distinction as the "#1 site for screening stocks" by Money Magazine. But powerful screening tools is just the start. That is why Zacks created the Screen of the Week to highlight profitable stock picking strategies that investors can actively use.
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 more than doubled the market from 1988 through 2016. Its average gain has been a stellar +25% per year. See these high-potential stocks free >>.
Follow us on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/zacksresearch
Join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ZacksInvestmentResearch
Zacks Investment Research is under common control with affiliated entities (including a broker-dealer and an investment adviser), which may engage in transactions involving the foregoing securities for the clients of such affiliates.
Contact: Jim Giaquinto
Company: Zacks.com
Phone: 312-265-9268
Email: pr@zacks.com
Visit: https://www.zacks.com/
Zacks.com provides investment resources and informs you of these resources, which you may choose to use in making your own investment decisions. Zacks is providing information on this resource to you subject to the Zacks "Terms and Conditions of Service" disclaimer. www.zacks.com/disclaimer.
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.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AMPH) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Hilltop Holdings Inc. (HTH) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc. (BECN) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Hooker Furnishings Corp. (HOFT) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Shift4 Payments, Inc. (FOUR) : Free Stock Analysis Report
