6 Stocks With Recent Price Strength For Improved Returns

“In the stock game, winning means reaching a higher price.” However, striking the right chord each time needs a fair amount of luck.

No matter how disciplined and systematic investors are, equity market volatility will always manage to get the better of them. While a few lucky ones rake in the moolah, others fall victim to ad hoc strategies.

One could resort to commonly used techniques to find beaten down stocks that have the potential to recover faster than others. However, even such investment choices bear the risk of disappointment. Particularly, one could fall into the value trap if the hidden weaknesses in a selected stock are not identified.

So, wouldn’t it be a safer strategy to look for stocks that are winners currently and have the potential to gain further?

Sounds a good idea? Here is how to execute it:

One should primarily target stocks that have recently been on a bullish run. Actually, stocks seeing price strength recently have a high chance of carrying the momentum forward.

If a stock is continuously on an uptrend, there must be a solid reason or else it would have probably crashed. So, looking at stocks that are capable of beating the benchmark that they have set for themselves seems rational.

However, recent price strength alone cannot create the magic. Therefore, you need to set other relevant parameters to create a successful investment strategy.

Here’s how you should create the screen to shortlist the current as well as the potential winners.

Screening Parameters:

Percentage Change in Price (4 Weeks) greater than zero: This criterion shows that the stock has moved higher in the last four weeks.

Percentage Change Price (12 Weeks) greater than 10: This indicates that the stock has seen momentum over the last three months. This lowers the risk of choosing stocks that may have drawn attention due to the overwhelming performance of the overall market in a very short period.

Zacks Rank 1: No matter whether market conditions are good or bad, stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) have a proven history of outperformance. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Average Broker Rating 1: This indicates that brokers are also highly hopeful about the stock’s future performance.

Current Price greater than 5: The stocks must all be trading at a minimum of $5.

Current Price/ 52-Week High-Low Range more than 85%: This criterion filters stocks that are trading near their respective 52-week highs. It indicates that these are strong enough in terms of price.

Here are six of the 15 stocks that made it through this screen:

Nomad Foods Ltd. (NYSE:NOMD) manufactures and distributes frozen foods primarily in the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, Sweden, France and Norway. Last quarter, the company delivered a positive earnings surprise of 3.9%.

Gray Television Inc. (NYSE:GTN) is a communications company headquartered in Atlanta, GA, and currently operates 15 CBS-affiliated television stations, seven NBC-affiliated television stations, seven ABC-affiliated television stations and four daily newspapers. Last quarter, the company delivered a positive earnings surprise of 128.6%.

Federal Signal Corporation (NYSE:FSS) is a manufacturer and worldwide supplier of safety, signaling and communications equipment, hazardous area lighting, fire rescue products, street sweeping and vacuum loader vehicles, parking control equipment, custom on-premise signage, carbide cutting tools, precision punches and related die components. Last quarter, the company delivered a positive earnings surprise of 16.7%.

POSCO (NYSE:PKX) , formerly known as Pohang Iron & Steel Company Ltd., manufactures hot and cold rolled steel products, heavy plate and other steel products for the construction and shipbuilding industries.

Braskem SA (NYSE:BAK) is the largest petrochemical operation in Latin America and is one of the five largest private companies in Brazil. With industrial facilities located in Alagoas, Bahia, São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul, Braskem produces primary base petrochemicals such as ethylene, propylene, benzene, caprolactam, DMT and termoplastic resins (polypropylene, polyethylene, PVC and PET) gas and GLP.

KB Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:KB) is a commercial bank in Korea. On the asset side, the company provides credit and related financial services to individuals and small and medium-sized enterprises and, to a lesser extent, to large corporate customers. On the deposit side, it provides a range of deposit products and related services to individuals and enterprises of all sizes.

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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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