Back to top

Image: Bigstock

5 Stocks With Recent Price Strength to Maximize Your Gains

Read MoreHide Full Article

U.S. stock markets are firing on all cylinders supported by strong economic data, soaring consumer and business optimism, and a massive stimulus provided by the government to support the pandemic-ridden economy.

Wall Street started second-quarter 2021 on a high-note after finishing an impressive first quarter. The new bull market, which was formed in April 2020 following the coronavirus-led shortest bear market, gathered momentum in 2021.

The U.S. government has ramped up nationwide COVID-19 vaccination on a priority basis. Per CDC data, as of Apr 12, more than 183 million vaccines were administered. On Apr 6, President Joe Biden announced that all American adults will be vaccinated by Apr 19, ahead of an earlier timetable of May 1. The speeding up of the process implies chances of a faster-than-expected reopening of the U.S. economy.

At this stage, wouldn’t it be a safer strategy to look for stocks that are winners and have the potential to gain further?

Sounds Good? Here’s How to Execute It:

One should primarily target stocks that have freshly been on a bull run. Actually, stocks seeing price strength recently have a high chance of carrying the momentum forward.

If a stock is continuously witnessing an uptrend, there must be a solid reason or else it would have probably crashed. So, looking at stocks that are capable of beating the benchmark that they have set for themselves seems rational.

However, recent price strength alone cannot create magic. Therefore, you need to set other relevant parameters to create a successful investment strategy.

Here’s how you should create the screen to shortlist the current as well as the potential winners.

Screening Parameters:

Percentage Change in Price (4 Weeks) greater than zero: This criterion shows that the stock has moved higher in the last four weeks.

Percentage Change Price (12 Weeks) greater than 10: This indicates that the stock has seen momentum over the last three months. This lowers the risk of choosing stocks that may have drawn attention due to the overwhelming performance of the overall market in a very short period.

Zacks Rank 1: No matter whether market conditions are good or bad, stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) have a proven history of outperformance. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Average Broker Rating 1: This indicates that brokers are also highly hopeful about the stock’s future performance.

Current Price greater than 5: The stocks must all be trading at a minimum of $5.

Current Price/ 52-Week High-Low Range more than 85%: This criterion filters stocks that are trading near their respective 52-week highs. It indicates that these are strong enough in terms of price.

Just these few criteria have narrowed down the search from over 7,700 stocks to just 19.

Here we present five out of those 19 stocks:

Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. (MARA - Free Report) operates as a digital asset technology company that mines cryptocurrencies with a focus on the blockchain ecosystem and the generation of digital assets in the United States.

The stock price has jumped 33% in the past four weeks. The company has an expected earnings growth rate of more than 100% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 75% over the last 30 days.

POSCO (PKX - Free Report) manufactures and sells steel-rolled products and plates in South Korea and internationally. It operates through four segments: Steel, Construction, Trading, and Others.

The stock price has advanced 8.7% in the past four weeks. The company has an expected earnings growth rate of 76.4% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 1.6% over the last 30 days.

Veritiv Corp. operates as a business-to-business provider of value-added packaging products and services, as well as facility solutions, print, and publishing products and services in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and internationally.

The stock price has surged 7.7% in the past four weeks. The company has expected earnings growth of 29.8% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 80% over the last 60 days.

ArcelorMittal (MT - Free Report) is the world’s leading steel and mining company that owns and operates steel manufacturing and mining facilities in Europe, North and South America, Asia, and Africa.

The stock price has gained 7% in the past four weeks. The company has expected earnings growth of more than 100% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved  0.5% over the last 7 days.

The Community Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Community Bank of the Chesapeake that provides commercial and retail banking services to individuals and businesses.

The stock price has rose 4.9% in the past four weeks. The company has an expected earnings growth rate of 25.6% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 8.5% over the last 30 days.

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.


Unique Zacks Analysis of Your Chosen Ticker


Pick one free report - opportunity may be withdrawn at any time


POSCO (PKX) - $25 value - yours FREE >>

ArcelorMittal (MT) - $25 value - yours FREE >>

Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. (MARA) - $25 value - yours FREE >>

Published in