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Zacks.com featured highlights include Amazon.com, Halozyme Therapeutics, Tenet Healthcare and Atmos Energy

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – July 23, 2024 – Stocks in this week’s article are Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN - Free Report) , Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (HALO - Free Report) , Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC - Free Report) and Atmos Energy Corp. (ATO - Free Report) .

4 Stocks with Impressive Interest Coverage Ratios to Buy Now

We often judge a company based on its sales and earnings. These metrics, however, may not be sufficient on their own. A stock might get a boost if these figures rise year over year or surpass estimates in a particular quarter, offering a lucrative opportunity for short-term investors to cash in. However, relying solely on sales and earnings numbers may not yield the desired long-term returns. For those seeking sustainable investment growth, a deeper dive into the company's financial health and stability is essential.

A critical analysis of a company's financial background is a prerequisite for an informed investment decision. Coverage ratios, which assess whether a company is robust enough to meet its financial obligations, play a crucial role in this analysis. A higher ratio generally indicates a stronger financial position. This article focuses on the interest coverage ratio, a key indicator used to evaluate a company's ability to pay interest on its debt, ensuring that the company is not over-leveraged and can comfortably meet its interest obligations from its operating earnings.

Interest Coverage Ratio = Earnings before Interest & Taxes (EBIT) divided by Interest Expense.

Why Interest Coverage Ratio?

The interest coverage ratio is used to determine how effectively a company can pay the interest charges on its debt.

Debt, which is crucial for most companies to finance operations, comes at a cost called interest. Interest expense has a direct bearing on the profitability of a company and its creditworthiness depends on how effectively it meets interest obligations. Therefore, the interest coverage ratio is one of the important criteria to factor in before making any investment decision.

Interest coverage ratio suggests the number of times the interest could be paid from earnings and gauges the margin of safety a firm carries for paying interest.

An interest coverage ratio lower than 1.0 implies that the company is unable to fulfill its interest obligations and could default on repaying debt. A company that is capable of generating earnings well above its interest expense can withstand financial hardships. One should also track the company's past performance to determine whether the interest coverage ratio has improved or worsened over a period of time.

Amazon.com, Inc., Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc., Tenet Healthcare Corp. and Atmos Energy Corp. boast an impressive interest coverage ratio.

Here are four of the 14 stocks that qualified the screening:

Amazon, a multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence, sports a Zacks Rank #1 and has a VGM Score of A. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Amazon's current financial year sales and EPS suggests growth of 11% and 57.9%, respectively, from the year-ago period's levels. AMZN has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 48.2%, on average. The stock has rallied 42.2% in the past year.

Halozyme Therapeutics, a biopharma technology platform company, sports a Zacks Rank #1 and has a VGM Score of B. HALO has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 9.4%, on average.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Halozyme Therapeutics' current financial year sales and EPS suggests growth of 19.3% and 40.8%, respectively, from the year-ago period. The stock has gained 26.4% in the past year.

Tenet Healthcare, a diversified healthcare services company in the United States, carries a Zacks Rank #2 and has a VGM Score of A. THC has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 56.5%, on average.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Tenet Healthcare's current financial year EPS suggests growth of 27.1% from a year ago. The stock has surged 73.3% in the past year.

Atmos Energy, engaged in regulated natural gas distribution, and pipeline and storage businesses, carries a Zacks Rank #2 and has a VGM Score of B. Atmos Energy has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 3.3%, on average.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Atmos Energy's current financial year sales and EPS suggests growth of 9.4% and 10.2%, respectively, from the year-ago period. The stock has declined 0.2% in the past year.

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 backtest 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.

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For the rest of this Screen of the Week article please visit Zacks.com at: https://www.zacks.com/stock/news/2305821/4-stocks-with-impressive-interest-coverage-ratio-to-buy-now

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.

About Screen of the Week

Zacks.com created the first and best screening system on the web earning the distinction as the "#1 site for screening stocks" by Money Magazine.  But powerful screening tools is just the start. That is why Zacks created the Screen of the Week to highlight profitable stock picking strategies that investors can actively use.

Strong Stocks that Should Be in the News

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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/performancefor information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

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