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5 Low Leverage Stocks for Prudent Investors

In corporate finance, leverage is a popular investment strategy that involves borrowing of funds to expand business, purchase inventory and other assets as well as support different aspects of business operations.

This borrowing can be done through equity or debt financing.

Now, the theory of cost reveals that most companies prefer debt financing over equity since debt is cheaper, especially in periods of low interest rates. This is because when a company resorts to debt financing, it takes on fixed expenses in the form of interest payments for a specific time period.

The current market situation seems favorable for corporates to take debt since the COVID-19 pandemic has forced the Federal Reserve to lower interest rate to a near-zero level.

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Yet, debt is something that gives you the chills since it brings with it the burden of repayment with additional interest in the future.

Especially, in times of crisis, no one can be fully sure of how a company will perform. On top of that those bearing large amount of debt are even more prone to bankruptcy. Therefore, the debt level of a company is an important point of consideration while making an investment decision.

Several leverage ratios have emerged as efficient tools to evaluate a company’s credit level to support prudent equity investments. The most popular among them is the debt-to-equity ratio.

Analyzing Debt/Equity

Debt-to-Equity Ratio = Total Liabilities/Shareholders’ Equity

This metric is a liquidity ratio that indicates the amount of financial risk a company bears. A company with a lower debt-to-equity ratio shows improved solvency for a company.

With Q1 earnings coming to an end, investors must be eyeing companies that have exhibited solid earnings growth. However, blindly pursuing high earnings yielding stocks, which have a high debt-to-equity ratio, might drain all your money before you know.

The Winning Strategy

Considering the aforementioned factors, it is prudent to choose stocks with a low debt-to-equity ratio to ensure steady returns.

However, an investment strategy based solely on debt-to-equity ratio might not fetch the desired outcome. To choose stocks that have the potential to give you steady returns, we have expanded our screening criteria to include some other factors.

Here are the other parameters:

Debt/Equity less than X-Industry Median: Stocks that are less leveraged than their industry peers.

Current Price greater than or equal to 10: The stocks must be trading at a minimum of $10 or above.

Average 20-day Volume greater than or equal to 50000: A substantial trading volume ensures that the stock is easily tradable.

Percentage Change in EPS F(0)/F(-1) greater than X-Industry Median: Earnings growth adds to optimism, leading to a stock’s price appreciation.

VGM Score of A or B: Our research shows that stocks with a VGM Score of A or B when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy) offer the best upside potential.

Estimated One-Year EPS Growth F(1)/F(0) greater than 5: This shows earnings growth expectation

Zacks Rank #1 or 2: Irrespective of market conditions, stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 or 2 have a proven history of success.

Excluding stocks that have a negative or a zero debt-to-equity ratio, here are five of the 16 stocks that made it through the screen.

NextEra Energy NEE: It is a public utility holding company engaged in the generation, transmission, distribution and sale of electric energy. The company delivered average four-quarter positive earnings surprise of 2.39% and currently carries a Zacks Rank #2.

Kinsale Capital Group KNSL: It operates as a specialty insurance company. The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 and delivered four-quarter average positive earnings surprise of 3.44%.

Vectrus, Inc. VEC: It offers infrastructure asset management, logistics and supply chain management, and information technology and network communication services. The company came up with four-quarter average positive earnings surprise of 0.69% and carries a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Teekay Tankers Ltd. TNK: It is a Marshall Islands corporation recently formed by Teekay Corporation to provide international marine transportation of crude oil. Currently, the company sports a Zacks Rank #1 and came up with average four-quarter positive earnings surprise of 13%.

West Pharmaceutical Services WST: It operates as a global drug delivery technology company. It currently has a Zacks Rank #2 and delivered average four-quarter positive earnings surprise of 17.99%.

Get the rest of the stocks on the list and start putting this and other ideas to the test. It can all be done with the Research Wizard stock picking and back testing software.

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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NextEra Energy, Inc. (NEE) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (WST) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Teekay Tankers Ltd. (TNK) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Vectrus, Inc. (VEC) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Kinsale Capital Group, Inc. (KNSL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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