Zacks.com Featured Highlights: RCI Hospitality Holdings, H&R Block, Sturm, Ruger & Company, Luminex And MarketAxess Holdings

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – June 26, 2017 - Stocks in this week’s article include RCI Hospitality Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: RICK – Free Report ), H&R Block Inc (NYSE:HRB). (NYSE: HRB – Free Report ), Sturm, Ruger & Company Inc. (NYSE: RGR – Free Report ), Luminex Corporation (NASDAQ: LMNX – Free Report ) and MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: MKTX – Free Report ).

Screen of the Week of Zacks Investment Research:

Want to Combat Market Volatility? Buy 5 Low Beta Stocks

Most investors are like-minded and believe that only high-risk securities could lead to lucrative return. Yes, the idea is right to some extent as those stocks perform better when markets are bullish. But the converse scenario for a bearish market should also be considered by investors.

After thorough research and analysis, we have developed a strategy which testifies that low-risk stocks could also fetch lucrative returns when some other parameters are considered.

Beta Understanding

Beta measures the volatility or risks to a security relative to the market (we are considering the S&P 500 here). That is, beta measures the extent to which the price of a stock moves with respect to the market.

If the beta is equal to 1 it means that the stock is as volatile as the market. So, a stock is relatively more volatile if it has beta greater than 1 and less volatile if beta is less than 1.

For example, if the beta is 1.8 then the stock will witness 80% more movement than the market. Hence, we can say that if the market goes up, the stock will outperform by 80%. Conversely, if the market plunges, the stock will lose much more value than the market.

Building a Low-Risk Portfolio

In order to find stocks with lower-than-market volatility, we added beta between 0 and 0.6 as our main criterion for screening. However, we need to keep in mind that low beta is not the only metric to be considered for choosing stocks in a volatile market. Hence to reach the winning strategy, we have considered a few additional criteria.

Percentage Change in Price in the last 4 Weeks: We considered those stocks that saw positive price movement over the last month.

Average 20 Day Volume greater than or equal to 50,000: A substantial trading volume ensures that the stocks are easily tradable.

Price greater than or equal to $5: They must all be trading at a minimum of $5 or higher.

Zacks Rank equal to 1: Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks indicate that they will significantly outperform the broader U.S. equity market over the next one to three months.

Here are five of the 16 stocks that fit the bill:

Based in Houston, TX RCI Hospitality Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:RICK – Free Report ) is the operator and owner of adult nightclubs, bars and restaurants. For the year ended Sep 2017, the company will likely witness year-over-year earnings growth of 13.6%. Also, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2017 earnings has been revised up over the last 60 days.

H&R Block Inc. (NYSE:HRB – Free Report ), headquartered in Kansas City, MO, primarily provides services related to tax return preparation and other associated services. The company managed to beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the last four quarters, with an average positive earnings surprise of 8.95%. Also, for the year ended Apr 2018, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings has been revised up over the last 60 days.

Headquartered in Southport, CT,Sturm, Ruger & Company Inc. (NYSE: RGR – Free Report ) is the designer and manufacturer of firearms in the U.S. The company beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the prior two quarters, with an average positive earnings surprise of 22.73%. Moreover, for full-year 2017, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings has been pushed up over a period of 60 days.

Luminex Corporation (NASDAQ:LMNX – Free Report ) — based in Austin, TX — engages in the development of proprietary biological testing technologies and products. For 2017, the company will likely see year-over-year earnings growth of 70.3%. On top of that, over the prior 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate of earnings for full-year 2017 has moved north.

Headquartered in New York, MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX – Free Report ) is involved in the operation of electronic trading platform. The company will likely see year-over-year earnings growth of 29.3% for 2017. Moreover, MarketAxess surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the prior four quarters, with an average positive earnings surprise of 7.26%.

You can get the rest of the stocks on this list by signing up now for your 2-week free trial to the Research Wizard and start using this screen in your own trading. Further, you can also create your own strategies and test them first before taking the investment plunge.

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.

Click here to sign up for a free trial to the Research Wizard today .

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 .

Zacks Restaurant Recommendations: In addition to dining at these special places, you can feast on their stock shares. A Zacks Special Report spotlights 5 recent IPOs to watch plus 2 stocks that offer immediate promise in a booming sector. Download it free »

Sign up now for your free trial today and start picking better stocks immediately. And with the backtesting feature, you can test your ideas to see how you can improve your trading in both up markets and down markets. Don’t wait for the market to get better before you decide to do better. Start learning how to be a better trader today: https://at.zacks.com/?id=111

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.

About Screen of the Week

Zacks.com created the first and best screening system on the web earning the distinction as the "#1 site for screening stocks" by Money Magazine. But powerful screening tools is just the start. That is why Zacks created the Screen of the Week to highlight profitable stock picking strategies that investors can actively use. Each week, Zacks Profit from the Pros free email newsletter shares a new screening strategy. Learn more about it here https://at.zacks.com/?id=112

About Zacks

Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978. The later formation of the Zacks Rank, a proprietary stock picking system; continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Click here for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros .

Get the full Report on RICK - FREE

Get the full Report on HRB - FREE

Get the full Report on RGR - FREE

Get the full Report on LMNX - FREE

Get the full Report on MKTX - FREE

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/zacksresearch

Join us on Facebook (NASDAQ:FB): https://www.facebook.com/ZacksInvestmentResearch

Zacks Investment Research is under common control with affiliated entities (including a broker-dealer and an investment adviser), which may engage in transactions involving the foregoing securities for the clients of such affiliates.

Contact: Jim Giaquinto

Company: Zacks.com

Phone: 312-265-9268

Email: pr@zacks.com

Visit: https://www.zacks.com/performance

Zacks.com provides investment resources and informs you of these resources, which you may choose to use in making your own investment decisions. Zacks is providing information on this resource to you subject to the Zacks "Terms and Conditions of Service" disclaimer. www.zacks.com/disclaimer .

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.