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Bear or Bull Market, This Stock Continues to Shine
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“Stocks, like individuals, have character and personality. Some are high-strung, nervous, and jumpy; others are forthright, direct, and logical.” – Jesse Livermore
One of the great investors of the 20th century, Livermore understood that personal opinions in the marketplace are pointless. The market has a way of proving the majority wrong, and even professionals seldom have their positioning aligned with the markets’ movements on a consistent basis. Livermore taught us that our opinions are secondary; it’s the action of the market itself that confirms our suspicions. Markets are never wrong – but opinions often are.
Stocks that are able to outperform the market over sustained periods of time illustrate to investors that they are worthy of a spot in our portfolio. It’s even more impressive when those stocks are able to weather bear markets and continue rising through the volatility. Their ability to navigate the noise and retain buying pressure while most stocks fall is what separates them from the herd.
That’s exactly what we have in the stock we will analyze below. Not only did this stock widely outperform during last year’s bear market, it is also beating the S&P 500 by a solid margin this year as well. This company checks off all the boxes, including strong sales and earnings growth, a robust technical trend, and the backing of a leading industry group.
The Zacks Consulting Services industry is currently ranked in the top 8% out of more than 250 industries. Because it is ranked in the top half of all Zacks Ranked Industries, we expect this group to outperform over the next 3 to 6 months.
Quantitative research studies have shown that roughly half of a stock’s price movement can be attributed to its industry group. In fact, the top 50% of Zacks Ranked Industries outperforms the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1. By targeting stocks in top industries, we can dramatically improve our odds of success.
Let’s take a look at a long-term leader within this industry.
Huron Consulting Group provides consultancy services and operates in three segments. Its Healthcare segment provides advisory services to national and regional health systems, hospitals, medical groups, and care providers. The Education segment provides administrative and research services to public and private colleges and universities, research institutes, and other education-related organizations. HURN’s Commercial segment offers digital services and software products to a variety of industries such as financial, energy, manufacturing and utilities.
A Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock, HURN has exceeded earnings estimates in each of the past four quarters. The company most recently delivered Q4 earnings back in February of $1.12/share, a 14.29% surprise over the $0.98 consensus estimate. HURN has posted a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 21.86%, aiding the stock’s 53.5% return in the past year. Shares have advanced 15% this year alone.
Image Source: StockCharts
Analysts have raised their Q1 earnings projections by 1.52% in the past 60 days. The Zacks Consensus EPS Estimate is now $0.67/share, reflecting growth of 36.73% versus the same quarter last year. Revenues are anticipated to have risen 16.46% during the first quarter to $302.86 million.
Huron Consulting is scheduled to report the quarterly results on May 2nd. Make sure to add HURN to your watchlist if you haven’t already done so.
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Bear or Bull Market, This Stock Continues to Shine
“Stocks, like individuals, have character and personality. Some are high-strung, nervous, and jumpy; others are forthright, direct, and logical.” – Jesse Livermore
One of the great investors of the 20th century, Livermore understood that personal opinions in the marketplace are pointless. The market has a way of proving the majority wrong, and even professionals seldom have their positioning aligned with the markets’ movements on a consistent basis. Livermore taught us that our opinions are secondary; it’s the action of the market itself that confirms our suspicions. Markets are never wrong – but opinions often are.
Stocks that are able to outperform the market over sustained periods of time illustrate to investors that they are worthy of a spot in our portfolio. It’s even more impressive when those stocks are able to weather bear markets and continue rising through the volatility. Their ability to navigate the noise and retain buying pressure while most stocks fall is what separates them from the herd.
That’s exactly what we have in the stock we will analyze below. Not only did this stock widely outperform during last year’s bear market, it is also beating the S&P 500 by a solid margin this year as well. This company checks off all the boxes, including strong sales and earnings growth, a robust technical trend, and the backing of a leading industry group.
The Zacks Consulting Services industry is currently ranked in the top 8% out of more than 250 industries. Because it is ranked in the top half of all Zacks Ranked Industries, we expect this group to outperform over the next 3 to 6 months.
Quantitative research studies have shown that roughly half of a stock’s price movement can be attributed to its industry group. In fact, the top 50% of Zacks Ranked Industries outperforms the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1. By targeting stocks in top industries, we can dramatically improve our odds of success.
Let’s take a look at a long-term leader within this industry.
Huron Consulting Group, Inc. (HURN - Free Report)
Huron Consulting Group provides consultancy services and operates in three segments. Its Healthcare segment provides advisory services to national and regional health systems, hospitals, medical groups, and care providers. The Education segment provides administrative and research services to public and private colleges and universities, research institutes, and other education-related organizations. HURN’s Commercial segment offers digital services and software products to a variety of industries such as financial, energy, manufacturing and utilities.
A Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock, HURN has exceeded earnings estimates in each of the past four quarters. The company most recently delivered Q4 earnings back in February of $1.12/share, a 14.29% surprise over the $0.98 consensus estimate. HURN has posted a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 21.86%, aiding the stock’s 53.5% return in the past year. Shares have advanced 15% this year alone.
Image Source: StockCharts
Analysts have raised their Q1 earnings projections by 1.52% in the past 60 days. The Zacks Consensus EPS Estimate is now $0.67/share, reflecting growth of 36.73% versus the same quarter last year. Revenues are anticipated to have risen 16.46% during the first quarter to $302.86 million.
Huron Consulting is scheduled to report the quarterly results on May 2nd. Make sure to add HURN to your watchlist if you haven’t already done so.