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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights Mastercard, Wells Fargo, United Parcel Service, Intuit and EOG Resources

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – March 3, 2022 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Mastercard Inc. (MA - Free Report) , Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC - Free Report) , United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS - Free Report) , Intuit Inc. (INTU - Free Report) and EOG Resources, Inc. (EOG - Free Report) .

Here are highlights from Wednesday’s Analyst Blog:

Top Stock Reports for Mastercard, Wells Fargo and UPS

The Zacks Research Daily presents the best research output of our analyst team. Today's Research Daily features new research reports on 16 major stocks, including Mastercard Inc., Wells Fargo & Co., and United Parcel Service, Inc. These research reports have been hand-picked from the roughly 70 reports published by our analyst team today.

You can see all of today's research reports here >>>
 

Shares of Mastercard have outperformed the Zacks Financial Transaction Services industry over the past six month period (+1.3% vs. -21.6%). The Zacks analyst believes that the company's profit levels are rising thanks to increasing consumer spending. This enabled the company to report strong fourth-quarter results.

Numerous acquisitions are helping it to grow addressable markets and drive new revenue streams. The COVID-19 crisis accelerated the use of electronic payments with much greater adoption of digital and contactless solutions. The situation provides an opportunity for Mastercard's business to expedite its shift to the digital mode.
 

The company is well-poised to gain from steady cash-generating abilities. A strong capital position enables the company to pursue acquisitions and deploy capital. However, steep operating expenses might stress margins. High rebates and incentives may weigh on net revenues.
 

(You can read the full research report on Mastercard here >>>)
 

Shares of Wells Fargo have outperformed the Zacks Banks - Major Regional industry over the past year (+33.4% vs. +4.4%). The company's surprise history is impressive, with earnings having surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all the trailing four quarters. The Zacks analyst believes that the growing deposit balance, driven by encouraging economic trends, strengthens the company's liquidity position.
 

Given its robust capital position, the company's capital-deployment activities seem sustainable. Improving credit quality poses a tailwind. Yet, loss of revenues from portfolio sales remains concerning. Nonetheless, progress on efficiency initiatives propelled expense control and savings. This is expected to aid Well Fargo's bottom line continuously.
 

(You can read the full research report on Wells Fargo here >>>)
 

Shares of United Parcel Service have outperformed the Zacks Transportation - Air Freight and Cargo industry over the past year (+28.2% vs. +6.6%). The Zacks analyst believes that like the first three quarters of 2021, upbeat demand for e-commerce-related package deliveries aided UPS' fourth-quarter 2021 results.
 

UPS' efforts to reward its shareholders is also commendable. In the latest shareholder-friendly move, UPS' board approved a 49% quarterly dividend increase to $1.52 per share (annualized: $6.08), in February. In 2021, UPS paid out dividends worth $3.4 billion. UPS is also active on the buyback front. Robust free cash-flow generation by the company ($10.9 billion in 2021, more than double the 2020 actuals) supports its shareholder-friendly activities.
 

However, high operating costs (up 9.7% in 2021) are hurting the bottom line. With oil price moving north, fuel costs (up 48.9% in 2021) are escalating and flaring up total costs.
 

(You can read the full research report on United Parcel Service here >>>)
 

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Intuit Inc. and EOG Resources, Inc.
 

Bitcoin, Like the Internet Itself, Could Change Everything

Blockchain and cryptocurrency has sparked one of the most exciting discussion topics of a generation. Some call it the "Internet of Money" and predict it could change the way money works forever. If true, it could do to banks what Netflix did to Blockbuster and Amazon did to Sears. Experts agree we're still in the early stages of this technology, and as it grows, it will create several investing opportunities.

Zacks' has just revealed 3 companies that can help investors capitalize on the explosive profit potential of Bitcoin and the other cryptocurrencies with significantly less volatility than buying them directly. 

See 3 crypto-related stocks now >>

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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.

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