Yahoo Finance 5 Broker-Favorite Stocks to Watch Amid Current Uncertainty
Individual investors often need some guidance when they are unable to determine how a particular stock will perform, especially in an uncertain market environment. After all, no one wants their hard-earned money to go down the drain.
To avoid such an unfortunate scenario from materializing, it is in the best interest of investors to be guided by brokers. Amid the current uncertain surroundings, broker-loved stocks like American Public Education APEI, American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings AXL, Alaska Air Group ALK, Delek US Holdings DK and Warner Bros. Discovery WBD should be on an investor’s radar.
Why Should You Pay Heed to Broker Advice?
Brokers are deemed to be “experts” in the arena of investing. This is because brokers are equipped with well-researched information on the stocks they cover. They attend conference calls and company presentations, as well as interact with management.
Brokers revise their earnings estimates after carefully examining the pros and cons of an event for the concerned stock. Given their thorough understanding of the stock market, as highlighted in this write-up, it is only prudent for investors to pay heed to broker advice in planning a winning portfolio.
We have designed a screen to shortlist stocks based on improving broker recommendations and upward revisions to earnings estimates over the last four weeks. Also, since the price/sales ratio is a strong complementary valuation metric in the presence of analyst information, it has also been included. The price/sales ratio takes care of the company’s top line, thereby making the strategy foolproof.
Screening Criteria
# (Up- Down Rating)/ Total (4 weeks) =Top #75 (This gives the list of the top 75 companies that have witnessed net upgrades over the last 4 weeks).
% change in Q (1) est. (4 weeks) = Top #10 (This gives the top 10 stocks that have witnessed earnings estimate revisions over the past 4 weeks for the upcoming quarter).
We have also added the following screening parameters to ensure that the strategy is a winning one:
Price-to-Sales = Bot%10 (The lower the ratio the better. Companies meeting this criterion are in the bottom 10% of our universe of over 7,700 stocks with respect to this ratio).
Price greater than 5 (as a stock trading below $5 will not likely create significant interest for most of the investors).
Average Daily Volume greater than 100,000 shares over the last 20 trading days (Volume has to be significant to ensure that these are easily traded).
Market value ($ mil) = Top #3000 (This gives us stocks that are the top 3000 in terms of market capitalization).
Com/ADR/Canadian= Com (This takes out the ADR and Canadian stocks).
Here are five of the 10 stocks that made it through the screen:
American Public Education benefits from its solid enrollment momentum, strong digital marketing campaigns and tuition grants to military students. Moreover, American Public has undertaken several initiatives to address increasing cost pressure.
American Public currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). APEI surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in each of the past four quarters, the average beat being 138.2%.
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
American Axle’s significant strides and collaborations in the electric drive space bode well for its top- and bottom-line growth. Efforts aimed at diversifying its business, products and customer base are generating impressive results for the company.
American Axle has an impressive surprise history, with its earnings surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the last four quarters (missing the mark on the other occasion). The average beat is 404.7%. AXL currently carries a Zacks Rank #2.
Alaska Air, based in Seattle, WA, is being aided by an uptick in air travel demand. The carrier’s shareholder-friendly attitude also bodes well.
Over the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for full-year 2024 earnings has been revised 3.5% upward. ALK currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Brentwood, TN-based Delek US Holdings is an independent refiner, transporter and marketer of petroleum products. DK’s extensive downstream operations within the Permian Basin grant it a fairly significant competitive edge over its peers in the long term.
Delek US Holdings currently carries a Zacks Rank #3. DK surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in three of the past four quarters (missing the mark in the other one), with the average beat being 28.4%.
Warner Bros. Discovery benefits from impressive streaming subscriber growth, driven by an expanding content portfolio. The company’s focus on sports streaming, particularly live sports, is a further tailwind.
WBD currently carries a Zacks Rank #3. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for WBD’s 2025 earnings has been revised upward over the past 60 days by more than 100%.
You can get the rest of the stocks on this list by signing up now for a 2-week free trial to the Research Wizard stock picking and backtesting software. You can also create your own strategies and test them first before making investments.
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.
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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.
Disclosure: Performance information for Zacks’ portfolios and strategies are available at: https://www.zacks.com/performance
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American Public Education, Inc. (APEI) : Free Stock Analysis Report
American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. (AXL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Delek US Holdings, Inc. (DK) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Alaska Air Group, Inc. (ALK) : Free Stock Analysis Report
