5 Stocks At 52-Week Highs With More Room For Growth

When Britain chose to exit the European Union last month over a referendum, the markets went haywire with no sense of future direction. Naturally, Brexit spread panic among investors and took its toll on the bourses. But a huge jump in job additions last month eased most of the fears and the major benchmark closed in the green, that too at impressive highs.

Amid such bullishness, many companies reached or went near their 52-week highs. We believe that companies with solid fundamentals that are going with the flow of the current momentum will be wise additions to one’s portfolio.

Benchmarks See Record Marks

The S&P 500 closed a point below the all-time high registered on May 21, 2015. Also, during intraday trading hours, the benchmark touched the highest mark of 2143.16, beating the record level of 2134.72 on May 20, 2015.

On top of that, The Dow Jones Industrial Average or DJI reached its highest mark in the last 52 weeks while the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite Index touched the highest level in 2016.

Moreover, investors should note that all the three key U.S. indexes witnessed the second straight weekly rise. So what was it that wiped out Brexit fears?

Encouraging Job Data Cheer Markets

Just after British voters opted to leave the EU, market pundits warned that the stunning incident will negatively impact the global economy. In fact, the Brexit aftermath started unnerving the market as investors started shifting money from the stock market to the safe haven Treasury bonds.

In such a dismal scenario, encouraging job data for last month brought huge relief. In detail, after back-to-back months of weak job growth, U.S. hiring was stronger-than-expected in June, shrugging off all fears about momentum loss in the labor market. Data wise, the month of June saw the addition of 287,000 new jobs – the highest in eight months, and way above the 180,000 rise expected by analysts.

Leisure and hospitality added 59,000 jobs. Health care and social assistance and information also generated about 58,000 and 44,000 jobs, respectively. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate was 4.9% in June, which was higher than the consensus estimate of 4.8% and May’s rate of 4.7%. This was mainly because more than 400,000 Americans re-joined the workforce and the labor force participation rate rose to 62.7%.

It is to be noted that, June’s encouraging job figures also raised talks about heightened rate hike chances this year, which in turn pushed stocks northward.

Momentum Stocks to Consider

Overall there is a forward movement in the market which momentum traders can capitalize on. These traders believe that this trend will continue, leading to timely and profitable trades.

We have picked five stocks using our Zacks style score system that promise momentum at the moment. These stocks not only have a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) but also a momentum score of ‘A’.

The other parameter – in fact the most important – that we have considered is current price is a percentage of the 52-week high-low range greater than 95. This criterion filters stocks that are trading near their respective 52-week highs. It indicates that the stocks are strong enough in terms of price.

Sandstorm Gold Ltd. (NYSE:SAND) : Headquartered in Vancouver, CA, Sandstorm Gold is a gold streaming company engaged in providing upfront financing for gold mining companies.

The firm – having a Zacks Rank #1 – touched its 52-week high mark of $5.40 per share yesterday.

NuVasive Inc. (NASDAQ:NUVA) : Headquartered in San Diego, CA, NuVasive is one of the leading global medical device companies in the global spine market, focused on developing minimally disruptive surgical products and procedurally integrated solutions for the spine.

Yesterday, the company – carries a Zacks Rank #2 - reached a 52-week high mark of $62.33 per share.

OMNOVA Solutions Inc. (NYSE:OMN) : Headquartered in Beachwood, OH, OMNOVA is the supplier of specialty chemicals, emulsion polymers and engineered surfaces in North America, Europe, and Asia.

OMNOVA – carries a Zacks Rank #1 - touched $9.13 per share yesterday, its 52-week high mark.

Ryerson Holding Corporation (NYSE:RYI) : Headquartered in Chicago, IL, Ryerson Holding is involved in activities like processing and distributing a variety of metals in the U.S., Mexico, Canada, China and Brazil.

Ryerson Holding – with Zacks Rank #2 - touched its 52-week high mark of $19.64 per share yesterday.

Intrawest Resorts Holdings Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) : Denver, CO-based Intrawest Resorts – with Zacks Rank #1 - is North America’s adventure, and real estate and mountain resort firm. The company helps its clients to gather vacation and travel experiences.

Intrawest Resorts, yesterday, touched its 52-week high mark of $14.22 per share.