Zacks Value Trader Highlights: Applied Materials, Garmin, InMode, Microsoft and Synaptics

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – March 20, 2020 – Zacks Value Trader is a podcast hosted weekly by Zacks Stock Strategist Tracey Ryniec. Every week, Tracey will be joined by guests to discuss the hottest investing topics in stocks, bonds and ETFs and how it impacts your life. To listen to the podcast, click here:

Coronavirus Worries? Screen for Stocks with Management Excellence

Welcome to Episode #182 of the Value Investor Podcast.

Every week, Tracey Ryniec, the editor of Zacks Value Investor portfolio, shares some of her top value investing tips and stock picks.

And with the stock market bears roaring, there’s a lot of value stock opportunities out there.

But there’s also a danger that some stocks might have financial stress as the global economy goes into shutdown.

That’s why value investors should look for companies with strong management.

Screening for Management Excellence

It’s hard to screen for management but investors can look for a low debt to equity ratio.

A debt/equity ratio under 1.0 usually means a company has lower risk.

But, be warned, many technology and services companies have low debt/equity ratios as they don’t have the overhead of big manufacturing facilities etc.

Using this screen, it returned 23 companies.

5 Stocks with Management Excellence

1.    Applied Materials (AMAT) has a debt/equity ratio of just 0.5. Shares are down about 40% year-to-date. It’s cheap, with a forward P/E of 10.8 but does it still have further to fall?

          2.    Garmin (GRMN) said in early February that it was going to recommend a dividend in June. Given what has happened to the global economy since, will that be postponed? Shares are down 30% year-to-date. It’s now trading with a debt/equity ratio of just 0.01.

3.    InMode (INMD) went IPO last year and now shares have returned to the IPO price. It has a debt/equity ratio of 0. This small cap medical products company has a forward P/E of just 8.

4.    Microsoft (MSFT) has a debt/equity ratio of just 0.6. It also has billions on its balance sheet and a diverse business model. Shares are only down 11% year-to-date. It still trades with a forward P/E of 26. Is this even much of a deal?

5.    Synaptics (SYNA) has a debt/equity ratio of 0.69. This human interface solutions company, which makes touch and display products, is down 26% year-to-date. With a P/E of 10, is it a deal?

There are plenty of other companies that value investors might want to consider right now as well.

Find out more about companies with management excellence, and other value stocks, on this week’s podcast.

[In full disclosure, Tracey owns shares of MSFT in her personal portfolio.]

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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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Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Garmin Ltd. (GRMN) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Synaptics Incorporated (SYNA) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
InMode Ltd. (INMD) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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