Dj Workhorse Group Inc. Stock Outperforms Competitors On Strong Trading Day

The U.S. stock market continued its upward momentum on Monday, reaching fresh highs amid optimism spurred by the recent presidential election and favorable economic signals. Wall Street's major indexes closed at new highs, building on Friday's record-breaking performance. Investors appear increasingly positive about the prospects of pro-growth fiscal policies under President-elect Donald Trump, while the Federal Reserve's recent interest rate cut has also bolstered market sentiment.

The S&P 500 rose 0.10% to close at 6,001.35, while the Nasdaq Composite jumped 0.06%, ending the session at 19,298.76. Leading the gains, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.69% to reach 44,293.13. Bitcoin also hit unprecedented levels, marking a significant milestone in the cryptocurrency market.

As major indexes hit record highs and digital assets reach unprecedented levels, investors might consider balancing their portfolios with value stocks. Typically trading below their intrinsic value, these stocks offer a margin of safety during market fluctuations.

When evaluating value stocks, one of the most effective valuation metrics is the Price to Cash Flow (P/CF) ratio. This metric measures the market price of a stock relative to the cash flow the company generates on a per-share basis. A lower P/CF ratio indicates that the stock is trading at a better value, offering strong cash generation potential relative to its price. Here are four companies — StoneCo Ltd. STNE, Skechers U.S.A., Inc. SKX, Pfizer Inc. PFE and General Motors Company GM — that boast low P/CF ratios, making them strong contenders for value-seeking investors.

Price to Cash Flow Reveals Financial Health

Questions may arise as to why we are considering the P/CF valuation metric when the most widely used metric is Price/Earnings (or P/E). Well, what makes P/CF stand out is that operating cash flow adds back non-cash charges such as depreciation and amortization to net income, truly reflecting the financial health of a company.

Analysts caution that a company’s earnings are subject to accounting estimates and management manipulation. However, cash flow is reliable. It is net cash flow that reveals how much money a company is actually generating and how effectively management is putting the same to use.

A positive cash flow indicates an increase in the company’s liquid assets. This gives the company the means to settle debt, shell out for its expenses, reinvest in its business, endure downturns, and finally pay back its shareholders. Then again, a negative cash flow implies a decline in the company’s liquidity, which in turn lowers its flexibility to support these moves.

What’s the Best Value Investing Strategy?

An investment decision solely based on the P/CF metric may not fetch the desired results. To identify stocks that are trading at a discount, you should expand your search criteria and also consider the price-to-book ratio, price-to-earnings ratio, and price-to-sales ratio. Adding a favorable Zacks Rank and a Value Score of A or B to your search criteria should lead to even better results as these eliminate the chance of falling into a value trap.

Here are the parameters for selecting true-value stocks:

P/CF less than or equal to X-Industry Median.

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

Average 20-Day Volume greater than 100,000: A substantial trading volume ensures that the stock is easily tradable.

P/E using (F1) less than or equal to X-Industry Median: This parameter shortlists stocks that are trading at a discount or are equal to their peers.

P/B less than or equal to X-Industry Median: A lower P/B compared with the industry average implies that there is enough room for the stock to gain.

P/S less than or equal to X-Industry Median: The P/S ratio determines how a stock price compares to the company’s sales — the lower the ratio, the more attractive the stock is.

PEG less than 1: The ratio is used to determine a stock's value by taking the company's earnings growth into account. The PEG ratio portrays a more complete picture than the P/E ratio. A value of less than 1 indicates that the stock is undervalued and that investors need to pay less for a stock that has robust earnings growth prospects.

Zacks Rank less than or equal to 2: Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy) stocks are known to outperform irrespective of the market environment.

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

Here are four of the nine value stocks that qualified the screening:

StoneCo is a leading provider of financial technology and software solutions that facilitate merchants to conduct commerce seamlessly. This Zacks Rank #1 company has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 5.4%, on average. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for StoneCo’s current financial year sales and earnings per share (EPS) suggests growth of 0.2% and 24.7%, respectively, from the year-ago period. STNE has a Value Score of B. Shares of STNE have decreased 4.4% in the past year.

Skechers designs, develops and markets a diverse range of lifestyle and performance footwear, apparel, and accessories. This Zacks Rank #2 company has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 8.8%, on average.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Skechers’ current financial year sales and EPS suggests growth of 12.2% and 20.6%, respectively, from the year-ago period. Skechers has a Value Score of A. Shares of SKX have rallied 23.5% in the past year.

Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.

Pfizer, which develops, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products, carries a Zacks Rank #2. The company has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 74.5%, on average.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Pfizer’s current financial year sales and EPS suggests growth of 7.7% and 56.5%, respectively, from the year-ago period. Pfizer has a Value Score of A. Shares of PFE have declined 9.4% in the past year.

General Motors, which designs, builds, and sells cars, trucks, crossovers, and automobile parts globally, carries a Zacks Rank #2. The company has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 17.5%, on average.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for General Motors’ current financial year sales and EPS suggests growth of 4.8% and 34%, respectively, from the year-ago period. General Motors has a Value Score of A. Shares of GM have advanced 114.4% in the past 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 backtest 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

General Motors (GM) appears an attractive pick, as it has been recently upgraded to a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). An upward trend in earnings estimates -- one of the most powerful forces impacting stock prices -- has triggered this rating change.

The sole determinant of the Zacks rating is a company's changing earnings picture. The Zacks Consensus Estimate -- the consensus of EPS estimates from the sell-side analysts covering the stock -- for the current and following years is tracked by the system.

Individual investors often find it hard to make decisions based on rating upgrades by Wall Street analysts, since these are mostly driven by subjective factors that are hard to see and measure in real time. In these situations, the Zacks rating system comes in handy because of the power of a changing earnings picture in determining near-term stock price movements.

Therefore, the Zacks rating upgrade for General Motors basically reflects positivity about its earnings outlook that could translate into buying pressure and an increase in its stock price.

Most Powerful Force Impacting Stock Prices

The change in a company's future earnings potential, as reflected in earnings estimate revisions, has proven to be strongly correlated with the near-term price movement of its stock. The influence of institutional investors has a partial contribution to this relationship, as these big professionals use earnings and earnings estimates to calculate the fair value of a company's shares. An increase or decrease in earnings estimates in their valuation models simply results in higher or lower fair value for a stock, and institutional investors typically buy or sell it. Their bulk investment action then leads to price movement for the stock.

For General Motors, rising earnings estimates and the consequent rating upgrade fundamentally mean an improvement in the company's underlying business. And investors' appreciation of this improving business trend should push the stock higher.

Harnessing the Power of Earnings Estimate Revisions

Empirical research shows a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock movements, so it could be truly rewarding if such revisions are tracked for making an investment decision. Here is where the tried-and-tested Zacks Rank stock-rating system plays an important role, as it effectively harnesses the power of earnings estimate revisions.

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 #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Earnings Estimate Revisions for General Motors

This an automotive manufacturer is expected to earn $10.29 per share for the fiscal year ending December 2024, which represents a year-over-year change of 34%.

Analysts have been steadily raising their estimates for General Motors. Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company has increased 4%.

Bottom Line

Unlike the overly optimistic Wall Street analysts whose rating systems tend to be weighted toward favorable recommendations, the Zacks rating system maintains an equal proportion of 'buy' and 'sell' ratings for its entire universe of more than 4000 stocks at any point in time. Irrespective of market conditions, only the top 5% of the Zacks-covered stocks get a 'Strong Buy' rating and the next 15% get a 'Buy' rating. So, the placement of a stock in the top 20% of the Zacks-covered stocks indicates its superior earnings estimate revision feature, making it a solid candidate for producing market-beating returns in the near term.

The upgrade of General Motors to a Zacks Rank #2 positions it in the top 20% of the Zacks-covered stocks in terms of estimate revisions, implying that the stock might move higher in the near term.

Zacks Investment Research