Are Consumer Staples Stocks Lagging Coca-Cola HBC (CCHGY) This Year?

Here at Zacks, we focus on our proven ranking system, which places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, to find winning stocks. But we also understand that investors develop their own strategies, so we are constantly looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find strong companies for our readers.

Considering these trends, value investing is clearly one of the most preferred ways to find strong stocks in any type of market. Value investors use tried-and-true metrics and fundamental analysis to find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

Luckily, Zacks has developed its own Style Scores system in an effort to find stocks with specific traits. Value investors will be interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with both "A" grades in the Value category and high Zacks Ranks are among the strongest value stocks on the market right now.

One company value investors might notice is Carriage Services (CSV). CSV is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 13.69, while its industry has an average P/E of 18.90. CSV's Forward P/E has been as high as 14.15 and as low as 7.96, with a median of 11.18, all within the past year.

Investors will also notice that CSV has a PEG ratio of 0.91. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. CSV's industry currently sports an average PEG of 1.84. Over the past 52 weeks, CSV's PEG has been as high as 0.94 and as low as 0.53, with a median of 0.75.

Investors should also recognize that CSV has a P/B ratio of 3.07. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This company's current P/B looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/B of 6.43. Over the past 12 months, CSV's P/B has been as high as 3.07 and as low as 1.87, with a median of 2.25.

Finally, we should also recognize that CSV has a P/CF ratio of 9.93. This figure highlights a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find firms that are undervalued when considering their impressive cash outlook. CSV's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 14.02. Within the past 12 months, CSV's P/CF has been as high as 9.93 and as low as 5.86, with a median of 7.33.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in Carriage Services's strong Value grade, but they help show that the stock is likely undervalued right now. When factoring in the strength of its earnings outlook, CSV looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.

Zacks Investment Research

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 6, 2024 – Stocks in this week’s article are Amneal Pharmaceuticals AMRX, Cronos Group CRON, Carriage Services CSV, Business First Bancshares BFST and Amphenol APH.

3 Stocks Backed by High Efficiency for Solid Gains Amid Volatility

Efficiency level measures a company's capability to transform available input into output and is often considered an important parameter for gauging its potential to make profits. A company with a high-efficiency level is expected to provide stellar returns as it is believed to be positively correlated with price performance.

However, at times, it becomes difficult to measure the efficiency level of a company. This is why one must consider the popular efficiency ratios listed below while selecting stocks.

To that end, Amneal Pharmaceuticals,Cronos Group,Carriage Services, Business First Bancshares and Amphenol made it through the screening process:

These efficiency ratios are:

Receivables Turnover: This is the ratio of 12-month sales to four-quarter average receivables. It shows a company's potential to extend its credit and collect debt in terms of that credit. A high receivables turnover ratio or the "accounts receivable turnover ratio" or "debtor's turnover ratio" is desirable as it shows that the company is capable of collecting its accounts receivables or that it has quality customers.

Asset Utilization: This ratio indicates a company's capability to convert assets into output and is thus a widely known measure of efficiency level. It is calculated by dividing total sales over the past 12 months by the last four-quarter average of total assets. Like the above ratios, high asset utilization may indicate that a company is efficient.

Inventory Turnover: The ratio of the 12-month cost of goods sold (COGS) to a four-quarter average inventory is considered one of the most popular efficiency ratios. It indicates a company's ability to maintain a suitable inventory position. While a high value indicates that the company has a relatively low level of inventory compared to COGS, a low value indicates that the company is facing declining sales, which has resulted in excess inventory.

Operating Margin: This efficiency measure is the ratio of operating income over the past 12 months to sales over the same period. It measures a company's ability to control operating expenses. Hence, a high value of the ratio may indicate that the company manages its operating expenses more efficiently than its peers.

Here are the top five stocks that made it through the screen:

Amneal Pharmaceuticals

Amneal Pharmaceuticals is an integrated specialty pharmaceutical company. AMRX has an average four-quarter earnings surprise of 57.1%.

Cronos Group

Cronos Group engages in the investment in firms which are licensed to produce and sell medical marijuana. CRON has an average four-quarter earnings surprise of nearly 50%.

Carriage Services

Carriage Services is a leading provider of death care services and products in the United States. CSV has an average four-quarter earnings surprise of 36.3%.

Business First Bancshares

Business First Bancshares provides commercial and personal banking services to small to midsize businesses. BFST has an average four-quarter earnings surprise of 10.6%.

Amphenol

Amphenol designs, manufactures and markets electrical, electronic and fiber optic connectors, interconnect systems, antennas, sensors and sensor-based products and coaxial and high-speed specialty cable. APH has an average four-quarter earnings surprise of 7.7%.

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.

For the rest of this Screen of the Week article please visit Zacks.com at: https://www.zacks.com/stock/news/2364029/5-stocks-backed-by-high-efficiency-for-solid-gains-amid-volatility

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.

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Zacks Investment Research

Efficiency level measures a company’s capability to transform available input into output and is often considered an important parameter for gauging its potential to make profits. A company with a high-efficiency level is expected to provide stellar returns as it is believed to be positively correlated with price performance.

However, at times, it becomes difficult to measure the efficiency level of a company. This is why one must consider the popular efficiency ratios listed below while selecting stocks.

To that end, Amneal Pharmaceuticals AMRX, Cronos Group CRON, Carriage Services CSV, Business First Bancshares BFST and Amphenol APH made it through the screening process:

These efficiency ratios are:

Receivables Turnover: This is the ratio of 12-month sales to four-quarter average receivables. It shows a company’s potential to extend its credit and collect debt in terms of that credit. A high receivables turnover ratio or the “accounts receivable turnover ratio” or “debtor’s turnover ratio” is desirable as it shows that the company is capable of collecting its accounts receivables or that it has quality customers.

Asset Utilization: This ratio indicates a company’s capability to convert assets into output and is thus a widely known measure of efficiency level. It is calculated by dividing total sales over the past 12 months by the last four-quarter average of total assets. Like the above ratios, high asset utilization may indicate that a company is efficient.

Inventory Turnover: The ratio of the 12-month cost of goods sold (COGS) to a four-quarter average inventory is considered one of the most popular efficiency ratios. It indicates a company’s ability to maintain a suitable inventory position. While a high value indicates that the company has a relatively low level of inventory compared to COGS, a low value indicates that the company is facing declining sales, which has resulted in excess inventory.

Operating Margin: This efficiency measure is the ratio of operating income over the past 12 months to sales over the same period. It measures a company’s ability to control operating expenses. Hence, a high value of the ratio may indicate that the company manages its operating expenses more efficiently than its peers.

Screening Criteria

In addition to the above-mentioned ratios, we have added a favorable Zacks Rank — Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) — to the screen to make this strategy more profitable. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Inventory Turnover, Receivables Turnover, Asset Utilization, and Operating Margin greater than the industry average

(Values of these ratios higher than industry averages may indicate that the efficiency level of the company is higher than its peers.)

The use of these few criteria narrowed down the universe of over 7,906 stocks to 14.

Here are the top five stocks that made it through the screen:

Amneal Pharmaceuticals

Amneal Pharmaceuticals is an integrated specialty pharmaceutical company. AMRX has an average four-quarter earnings surprise of 57.1%.

Cronos Group

Cronos Group engages in the investment in firms which are licensed to produce and sell medical marijuana. CRON has an average four-quarter earnings surprise of nearly 50%.

Carriage Services

Carriage Services is a leading provider of death care services and products in the United States. CSV has an average four-quarter earnings surprise of 36.3%.

Business First Bancshares

Business First Bancshares provides commercial and personal banking services to small to midsize businesses. BFST has an average four-quarter earnings surprise of 10.6%.

Amphenol

Amphenol designs, manufactures and markets electrical, electronic and fiber optic connectors, interconnect systems, antennas, sensors and sensor-based products and coaxial and high-speed specialty cable. APH has an average four-quarter earnings surprise of 7.7%.

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 Investment Research

When it comes to short-term investing or trading, they say "the trend is your friend." And there's no denying that this is the most profitable strategy. But making sure of the sustainability of a trend to profit from it is easier said than done.

Often, the direction of a stock's price movement reverses quickly after taking a position in it, making investors incur a short-term capital loss. So, it's important to ensure that there are enough factors -- such as sound fundamentals, positive earnings estimate revisions, etc. -- that could keep the momentum in the stock going.

Investors looking to make a profit from stocks that are currently on the move may find our "Recent Price Strength" screen pretty useful. This predefined screen comes handy in spotting stocks that are on an uptrend backed by strength in their fundamentals, and trading in the upper portion of their 52-week high-low range, which is usually an indicator of bullishness.

There are several stocks that passed through the screen and

Carriage Services

(CSV) is one of them. Here are the key reasons why this stock is a solid choice for "trend" investing.

A solid price increase over a period of 12 weeks reflects investors' continued willingness to pay more for the potential upside in a stock. CSV is quite a good fit in this regard, gaining 22.9% over this period.

However, it's not enough to look at the price change for around three months, as it doesn't reflect any trend reversal that might have happened in a shorter time frame. It's important for a potential winner to maintain the price trend. A price increase of 15.6% over the past four weeks ensures that the trend is still in place for the stock of this provider of funeral and cemetary services and products.

Moreover, CSV is currently trading at 92.9% of its 52-week High-Low Range, hinting that it can be on the verge of a breakout.

Looking at the fundamentals, the stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), which means it is in the top 5% of more than the 4,000 stocks that we rank based on trends in earnings estimate revisions and EPS surprises -- the key factors that impact a stock's near-term price movements.

The Zacks Rank stock-rating system, which uses four factors related to earnings estimates to classify stocks into five groups, ranging from Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) to Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive externally-audited track record, with Zacks Rank #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here

Another factor that confirms the company's fundamental strength is its Average Broker Recommendation of #1 (Strong Buy). This indicates that the brokerage community is highly optimistic about the stock's near-term price performance.

So, the price trend in CSV may not reverse anytime soon.

In addition to CSV, there are several other stocks that currently pass through our "Recent Price Strength" screen. You may consider investing in them and start looking for the newest stocks that fit these criteria.

This is not the only screen that could help you find your next winning stock pick. Based on your personal investing style, you may choose from over 45 Zacks Premium Screens that are strategically created to beat the market.

However, keep in mind that the key to a successful stock-picking strategy is to ensure that it produced profitable results in the past. You could easily do that with the help of the Zacks Research Wizard. In addition to allowing you to backtest the effectiveness of your strategy, the program comes loaded with some of our most successful stock-picking strategies.

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

Zacks Investment Research