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5 Stocks With Recent Price Strength Amid March Rally

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Wall Street has concluded an impressive March as well as an eventful and solid first quarter. Timely intervention by the U.S. government and the Fed to resolve the banking sector crisis strengthened market participants’ confidence. Moreover, a moderate reading of the Fed’s most favorite inflation gauge — the core PCE (personal consumption expenditure) price index — also lifted investor sentiment.

The higher interest rate regime took its toll on the banking sector in the United States and Eurozone. This along with the recently released several weak economic data compelled the central bank to stick to a 25 basis-point rate hike in the March FOMC meeting and to reaffirm the terminal rate at 5.125%. Powell also said that the rate hike cycle is approaching its end.

Consequently, Wall Street closed a strong March as the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.9%, 3.5% and 6.7%, respectively. U.S. stock markets finished first-quarter 2023 on a positive note too. The Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite surged 0.4%, 7% and 16.8%, respectively. The Nasdaq Composite posted its biggest quarterly gain since the quarter ended June 2020.

As a result, several stocks have shown price strength. We have selected five of them that are likely to gain in the near term backed by a favorable Zacks Rank. These companies are — Bellerophon Therapeutics Inc. (BLPH - Free Report) , Crawford & Co. (CRD.B - Free Report) , Riley Exploration Permian Inc. (REPX - Free Report) , Harrow Health Inc. (HROW - Free Report) and Lantheus Holdings Inc. .

Here’s How We Arrived at the Picks

We have primarily targeted stocks that have freshly been on a bull run. 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 it would have probably crashed. So, looking at stocks capable of beating the benchmark that they have set for themselves seems rational.

However, recent price strength alone cannot create magic. Therefore, other relevant parameters are needed 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 narrowed down the search from over 7,700 stocks to 10.

Let’s discuss five out of these 10 stocks:

Bellerophon Therapeutics is a biotherapeutics company. BLPH is focused on developing products for the treatment of cardiopulmonary and cardiac diseases. BLPH’s product pipeline consists of INOpulse and BCM which are in different clinical stages.

The stock price of Bellerophon Therapeutics has soared 336.3% in the past four weeks. It has expected earnings growth of 18.8% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has improved 4.5% over the last 30 days.

Crawford is the world's largest independent provider of diversified services to insurance companies, self-insured corporations, and governmental entities. CRD.B operates through four segments: North America Loss Adjusting, International Operations, Broadspire, and Platform Solutions.

CRD.B provides claims management and outsourcing solutions for carriers, brokers, and corporations in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, Canada, Australia, Asia, and Latin America.

The stock price of Crawford has jumped 40.2% in the past four weeks. It has an expected earnings growth rate of 22.9% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 0.01% over the last seven days.

Riley Exploration is an independent oil and natural gas company. REPX is involved in the acquisition, exploration, development and production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids principally in the Permian Basin.

The stock price of REPX has climbed 15% in the past four weeks. It has an expected earnings growth rate 50.5% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 42.3% over the last 30 days.

Harrow Health is an eyecare pharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of ophthalmic therapies. HROW offers ImprimisRx, an ophthalmology outsourcing and pharmaceutical compounded medications. HROW also provides IHEEZO, a chloroprocaine hydrochloride ophthalmic gel; ophthalmic medicines, including IOPIDINE and MOXEZA and MAXITROL eye drops.

The stock price of Harrow Health has surged 13.4% in the past four weeks. It has an expected earnings growth rate of more than 100% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for next-year earnings has improved 40.9% over the last seven days.

Lantheus Holdings is involved in developing, manufacturing, selling and distributing diagnostic medical imaging agents and products for the diagnosis of cardiovascular and other diseases. LNTH serves to hospitals, clinics, group practices, integrated delivery networks, group purchasing organizations, radiopharmacies and wholesalers.

The stock price of Lantheus Holdings has advanced 13.2% in the past four weeks. It has an expected earnings growth rate of 13.5% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings improved 12.7% over the last 60 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.

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