MT Newswires Stocks To Watch: B2Gold; Fortuna; Franco Nevada; Taseko

Investors might want to bet on Taseko Mines (TGB), 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 Zacks rating relies solely on a company's changing earnings picture. It tracks EPS estimates for the current and following years from the sell-side analysts covering the stock through a consensus measure -- the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

Since a changing earnings picture is a powerful factor influencing near-term stock price movements, the Zacks rating system is very useful for individual investors. They may find it difficult to make decisions based on rating upgrades by Wall Street analysts, as these are mostly driven by subjective factors that are hard to see and measure in real time.

Therefore, the Zacks rating upgrade for Taseko 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, and the near-term price movement of its stock are proven to be strongly correlated. 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 transaction of large amounts of shares then leads to price movement for the stock.

For Taseko, 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

As empirical research shows a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock movements, tracking such revisions for making an investment decision could be truly rewarding. 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 Taseko

For the fiscal year ending December 2024, this metals mining company is expected to earn $0.15 per share, which is a change of 36.4% from the year-ago reported number.

Analysts have been steadily raising their estimates for Taseko. Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company has increased 3.4%.

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 Taseko 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

The proven Zacks Rank system focuses on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find winning stocks. Nevertheless, we know that our readers all have their own perspectives, so we are always looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find strong picks.

Of these, perhaps no stock market trend is more popular than value investing, which is a strategy that has proven to be successful in all sorts of market environments. Value investors rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.

On top of the Zacks Rank, investors can also look at our innovative Style Scores system to find stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will want to focus on the "Value" category. Stocks with high Zacks Ranks and "A" grades for Value will be some of the highest-quality value stocks on the market today.

One company value investors might notice is Taseko Mines Limited (TGB). TGB is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 11.84, which compares to its industry's average of 12.87. Over the past 52 weeks, TGB's Forward P/E has been as high as 25.91 and as low as 10.12, with a median of 15.83.

Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's sales. This is a prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. TGB has a P/S ratio of 1.56. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 2.52.

Finally, we should also recognize that TGB has a P/CF ratio of 7.02. 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. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 20.80. Within the past 12 months, TGB's P/CF has been as high as 9.55 and as low as 3.74, with a median of 6.44.

These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that Taseko Mines Limited is likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, TGB feels like a great value stock at the moment.

Zacks Investment Research

Taseko Mines just reported results for the second quarter of 2024.

• Taseko Mines reported earnings per share of 7 cents. This was above the analyst estimate for EPS of 1 cent.
• The company reported revenue of $100.67 million.
• This was 11.34% better than the analyst estimate for revenue of $90.42 million.

InvestorPlace Earnings is a project that leverages data from TradeSmith to automate coverage of quarterly earnings reports. InvestorPlace Earnings distills key takeaways including earnings per share and revenue, as well as how a company stacks up to analyst estimates. These articles are published without human intervention, allowing us to inform our readers of the latest figures as quickly as possible. To report any concerns or inaccuracies, please contact us at editor@investorplace.com.

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