Zacks.com featured highlights The Mosaic, Virtu Financial, Devon Energy, Dow and Flex

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – April 19, 2022 – Stocks in this week’s article are The Mosaic Company MOS, Virtu Financial Inc. VIRT, Devon Energy Corp. DVN, Dow Inc. DOW and Flex Ltd. FLEX.

5 Standout Relative Price Strength Stocks to Buy Right Now

Since the beginning of this year, Wall Street has been rocked by intense volatility as investors come to terms with soaring inflation. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has only aggravated that problem.

In the United States, several measures of inflation are currently at their highest in four decades. The outbreak of coronavirus has significantly devastated the global supply-chain system in the last two years. Input costs have spiked for businesses. At the same time, strong pent-up demand, supported by massive personal savings, has resulted in surging prices.

Naturally, market watchers remain wary of galloping inflation and the start of a higher interest regime to contain it. The resurgence of new coronavirus cases in China also unnerved investors. As it is, the Ukraine conflict drags on with resolution nowhere in sight.

For investors who might want to stay exposed to the market during this uncertain phase, it is time to focus on good investment opportunities. One of the ways such potential plays could be identified is to look for signs of relative price strength.

Relative Price Strength Strategy

Earnings growth and valuation multiples are indeed important for investors to determine a stock's ability to offer considerable returns. But these are also essential for determining whether a stock's price performance is better than its peers or the industry average.
 
If a stock's performance is lacking that of the broader groups, despite impressive earnings growth or valuation multiples, then something must be wrong.

It's always advisable to stay away from these stocks and bet on those that are outperforming their respective industry or benchmark. This is because betting on a winner always proves to be lucrative.

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.

Here are five of the 28 stocks that made it through the screen:

The Mosaic Company: The Tampa, FL-based firm is a leading producer and marketer of concentrated phosphate and potash for the global agriculture industry. Founded in 2004, Mosaic has a VGM Score of B.

For 2022, MOS has a projected earnings growth rate of 143.5%. Valued at around $28 billion, MOS shares have gained around 134.3% in a year.

Virtu Financial, Inc.: The market-leading financial services firm leverages cutting-edge technology to provide execution services and data, analytics and connectivity products to its clients. Virtu Financial has a VGM Score of B. Over the past 30 days, New York-based VIRT saw the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2022 move up 15.9%.

Virtu Financial beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in three of the trailing four quarters, the average being 24.8%. Valued at around $6.6 billion, VIRT has gained some 20.5% in a year.

Devon Energy Corp.: Devon Energy is an independent hydrocarbon company whose oil and gas operations are mainly concentrated in the onshore areas of North America, primarily in the United States. The 2022 Zacks Consensus Estimate for this Oklahoma City, OK-based firm indicates 115.6% year-over-year earnings per share growth. DVN has a VGM Score of B.

Devon Energy beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in each of the last four quarters. It has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of roughly 18.5%, on average DVN shares have rocketed around 203.2% in a year.

Dow Inc.: Dow, based in Midland, MI, supplies advanced, sustainable and leading-edge solutions across segments such as packaging, infrastructure and consumer care. The company's expected EPS growth rate for three to five years is currently 29.9%, which compares favorably with the industry's growth rate of 15.6%. Dow has a VGM Score of B.

Notably, Dow 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 11.1%, on average. Dow shares have gained around 6.1% in a year.

Flex Ltd.: Flex provides end-to-end services such as designing, engineering, manufacturing, as well as supply chain services and solutions to original equipment manufacturers. The fiscal 2022 Zacks Consensus Estimate for this Singapore-based firm indicates 19.8% year-over-year earnings per share growth. Flex has a VGM Score of B.

Flex beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in each of the last four quarters. It has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of roughly 25.6%, on average. Flex shares have lost around 7.1% 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.

For the rest of this Screen of the Week article please visit Zacks.com at: https://www.zacks.com/stock/news/1901273/5-standout-relative-price-strength-stocks-to-buy-right-now

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.

Strong Stocks that Should Be in the News

Many are little publicized and fly under the Wall Street radar. They're virtually unknown to the general public. Yet today's 220 Zacks Rank #1 "Strong Buys" were generated by the stock-picking system that has more than doubled the market from 1988 through 2016. Its average gain has been a stellar +25% per year. See these high-potential stocks free >>.

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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.

Just Released: Zacks' 7 Best Stocks for Today

Experts extracted 7 stocks from the list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys that has beaten the market more than 2X over with a stunning average gain of +25.4% per year.

These 7 were selected because of their superior potential for immediate breakout. 

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.