Shell & 4 Other Stocks With Solid Relative Price Strength

Investor confidence has deteriorated in recent weeks, with market participants highly concerned that the central bank may adopt harsh measurers to tackle skyrocketing inflation. In fact, Wall Street suffered a huge blow last week as major indexes posted the sharpest decline since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020. However, with the fundamentals of the U.S. economy remaining solid, the market’s northbound journey should soon resume. So, it is time to focus on good investment opportunities.

Whether a stock has the potential to offer considerable returns is determined primarily by its earnings and valuation ratios. Simultaneously, it is essential to check whether its price performance exceeds its peers or the industry average.

Upon such comparison, if we find that a stock is unable to match up to wider sectoral growth despite having impressive earnings momentum or valuation multiples, it may be better to avoid it.
 
However, those outperforming their respective industries or benchmarks should be included in your portfolio since they have a higher chance of securing significant returns. Picking a stock that outperforms its peers ensures that you have a winning option on your hands.

Then again, it is imperative that you determine whether or not an investment has relevant upside potential when considering stocks with significant relative price strength. Stocks delivering better than the S&P 500 for 1 to 3 months at least and having solid fundamentals indicate room for growth and are the best ways to go about this strategy.

Finally, it is crucial to find out whether analysts are optimistic about the upcoming earnings of these companies. In order to do this, we have added positive estimate revisions for the current quarter’s (Q1) earnings to our screen. When a stock undergoes an upward revision, it leads to additional price gains.

Screening Parameters

Relative % Price change – 12 weeks greater than 0

Relative % Price change – 4 weeks greater than 0

Relative % Price change – 1 week greater than 0

(We have considered those stocks that have been outperforming the S&P 500 over the last 12 weeks, four weeks and one week.)

% Change (Q1) Est. over 4 Weeks greater than 0: Positive current-quarter estimate revisions over the last four weeks.

Zacks Rank equal to 1: Only Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks — that have returned more than 26% annually over the last 26 years and surpassed the S&P 500 in 23 of the last 26 years — can get through. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Current Price greater than or equal to $5 and Average 20-day Volume greater than or equal to 50,000: A minimum price of $5 is a good standard to screen low-priced stocks, while a high trading volume would imply adequate liquidity.

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

Here are five of the nine stocks that made it through the screen:

Shell (RDS.A): This London-based firm is one of the primary oil supermajors — a group of U.S. and Europe-based big energy multinationals with operations that span almost every corner of the globe. Shell has a VGM Score of A.

For 2022, Shell has a projected earnings growth rate of 42.9%. Valued at around $195 billion, RDS.A shares have gained around 39.3% in a year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. JBHT: The company provides a broad range of transportation services to a diverse group of customers through the United States, Canada and Mexico. J.B. Hunt has a VGM Score of B. Over the past 30 days, Lowell, AR-based JBHT saw the Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2022 move up 5.8%.

J.B. Hunt beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in each of the trailing four quarters, the average being 10.2%. Valued at around $20.5 billion, JBHT has rallied 44.8% in a year.

Concentrix Corporation CNXC: Concentrix is a leading global customer experience solutions provider. The fiscal 2022 Zacks Consensus Estimate for this Fremont, CA-based firm indicates 20.1% year-over-year earnings per share growth. CNXC has a VGM Score of B.

Concentrix beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in each of the last four quarters. It has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of roughly 9.9%, on average. CNXC shares have gained around 58% in a year.

ExxonMobil XOM: Founded in 1870 as part of John D. Rockefeller's Standard oil empire and headquartered in Irving, TX, ExxonMobil is one of the world’s largest energy companies owning some of the most prolific assets globally. XOM has a VGM Score of A.

Notably, ExxonMobil beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in each of the last four quarters. XOM has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of roughly 54.7%, on average. The company’s shares have surged around 73.7% in a year.

Cushman & Wakefield CWK: Cushman & Wakefield is one of the world's largest commercial real estate service providers offering a wide range of services. The company’s expected EPS growth rate for three to five years is currently 10%, which compares favorably with the industry's growth rate of 7.9%. CWK has a VGM Score of A.

Notably, Cushman & Wakefield beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in each of the last four quarters. The company has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of roughly 110.3%, on average. CWK shares have gained around 38.1% in a year.

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.

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Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDS.A) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (JBHT) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Concentrix Corporation (CNXC) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Cushman & Wakefield PLC (CWK) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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