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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights Runway Growth Finance, Crescent Capital, Getty Realty and Cogent Communications

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – August 11, 2023 – 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: Runway Growth Finance Corp. (RWAY - Free Report) , Crescent Capital BDC (CCAP - Free Report) , Getty Realty (GTY - Free Report) and Cogent Communications (CCOI - Free Report) .

Here are highlights from Thursday’s Analyst Blog:

4 Safe Picks as Things Look Dicey for Wall Street This August

August, traditionally, has been one of the worst months for Wall Street. The month goes through a volatile phase as stock market participation gets reduced, resulting in lesser trading volumes. And this August is certainly living up to its reputation, which is leading to increased gyrations among stocks.

A trifecta of events that recently unfolded has also created market turbulence. All in all, the S&P 500 and the Dow have lost 2.6% and 1.2%, individually, so far this month. The tech-laden Nasdaq slipped 4.4% since the beginning of August and has now entered negative territory for the quarter.

So, what led to market upheavals? The selloff was ignited by a downgrade of several small to mid-sized U.S. banks by Moody’s. The rating agency warned that these U.S. lenders may find it hard to make money in a higher interest rate environment. Threats of an imminent recession may also impact such lenders.

Another rating agency, Fitch, downgraded the U.S. government’s long-term credit rating from AAA to AA+. Fitch Ratings expressed concerns that the debt burden in the United States may escalate soon, and they were compelled to demote U.S. credit rating mostly because of the debt ceiling crisis in Washington.

Meanwhile, a deepening slowdown in China’s economy is also unsettling investors. China’s exports and imports took a beating in July due to subdued demand for commodities across the globe. What’s more, the second-largest economy in the world is now on the verge of a malicious situation called deflation.

Consumer prices have barely risen for quite some time in China, while wholesale and real estate prices are plummeting as consumers aren’t willing to spend. China is already in high debt, and such deflationary issues may now easily cripple its economy, which will have a spiraling effect globally.

Thus, from an investment perspective, since August is experiencing bouts of volatility, it’s prudent for investors to place bets on safe stocks such as Runway Growth Finance Corp., Crescent Capital BDC, Getty Realty and Cogent Communications for a steady stream of income.

These stocks are dividend payers, which means they have a sound business model that helps them stay afloat amid market vagaries. To top it, these stocks have a low beta (ranges from 0 to 1), making them unperturbed to market volatility. They have a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Runway Growth Finance is an externally managed business development company. The company has a beta of 0.76 and a Zacks Rank #2.

RWAY has a dividend yield of 12.3%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has moved up 0.6% over the past 60 days. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 25.3%.

Crescent Capital is a business development company. The company has a beta of 0.85 and a Zacks Rank #2.

CCAP has a dividend yield of 9.9%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has moved up 5.3% over the past 60 days. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is almost 13%.

Getty Realty is a real estate investment trust. The company has a beta of 0.86 and a Zacks Rank #1.

GTY has a dividend yield of 5.5%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has moved up 7.1% over the past 60 days. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 5.6%.

Cogent Communications offers low-cost, high-speed Internet access, private network services, and colocation center services with ultra-low latency data transmission. The company has a beta of 0.45 and a Zacks Rank #2.

CCOI has a dividend yield of 6.4%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has moved up 13.9% over the past 60 days. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 156.3%.

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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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