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3 Top-Ranked Stocks With Upgraded Broker Ratings to Buy Now

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Though the macroeconomic environment is gradually becoming clearer, the path to rate cuts is still uncertain. While market participants are expecting the first rate cut in March, the central bank officials are pushing back on such anticipations.

Hence, in such a situation, it is difficult for individual investors to pick stocks independently and generate robust returns. For this, one has to understand the fundamentals of a company and try to place them against the present economic background to figure out how it may fare as an investment.

One way to cut short this task is to follow brokers’ recommendations. In this regard, stocks like Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (EEFT - Free Report) , American Airlines Group Inc. (AAL - Free Report) and ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. (ZIM - Free Report) are worth a look.

As brokers directly communicate with the top management, they have a better insight into what is happening in a particular company. They assess companies’ publicly available documents and even attend conference calls.

Brokers have more understanding of the overall sector and industry. They place company fundamentals against the current economic backdrop to determine how a particular stock will fare as an investment.

When brokers upgrade a stock, one can easily rely on their judgment. However, depending on broker upgrades is not the correct way to build your investment portfolio. Several other factors should be taken into account to ensure steady returns.

Selecting the Winning Strategy

We have a screening strategy that will help in your search for potential winners:

Broker Rating Upgrades (Four Weeks) of 1% or More: The screen selects stocks that have witnessed broker rating upgrades of 1% or more over the last four weeks.

Current Price Greater Than $5: The stocks must trade above $5.

Average 20-Day Volume Greater Than 100,000: A large trading volume guarantees that the stock is easily tradable.

Zacks Rank Equal to #1 or 2: Despite good or bad market conditions, stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy) have a proven record of success. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

VGM Score of A or B: Our research shows that stocks with a VGM Score of A or B when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 or 2, offer the best upside potential.

Here are three stocks that qualified for the screening:

Headquartered in Leawood, KS, Euronet Worldwide is a leading electronic payments provider. EEFT offers payment and transaction processing and distribution solutions to financial institutions, retailers, consumers and service providers.

EEFT’s earnings for 2024 are expected to rise 12.8%. Euronet Worldwide, carrying a Zacks Rank #2, has witnessed an 11.1% upward revision in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

Headquartered in Fort Worth, TX, American Airlines provides passenger and cargo services. AAL, formed following the December 2013 merger between AMR and U.S. Airways, is the largest airline globally.

American Airlines’ 2024 earnings are projected to increase 4.1%. AAL, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 at present, has witnessed a 6.3% upward revision in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

ZIM Integrated Shipping, based in Israel, provides container shipping and related services internationally. ZIM offers door-to-door and port-to-port transportation services for various types of customers, including end-users, consolidators and freight forwarders.

ZIM Integrated Shipping’s 2024 earnings are projected to jump 21.2%. ZIM, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 at present, has witnessed a 20% upward revision in broker ratings in the past four weeks.

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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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