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Zacks.com featured highlights include Halozyme Therapeutics, Leidos Holdings, Atmos Energy and Addus HomeCare

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – August 7, 2024 – Stocks in this week’s article are Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (HALO - Free Report) , Leidos Holdings, Inc. (LDOS - Free Report) , Atmos Energy Corporation (ATO - Free Report) and Addus HomeCare Corporation (ADUS - Free Report) .

4 Stocks That Flaunt an Impressive Interest Coverage Ratio

Given the current scenario, investors should gauge the changing market dynamics and accordingly chalk out a sturdy investment strategy. Well, you can decide to buy or sell a particular stock by looking at its sales and earnings numbers. However, such a strategy does not always warrant superior returns when the market faces a myriad of issues. A critical analysis of the company’s financial background is always required for a better investment decision.

Indeed, a company should be sound enough to meet its financial obligations. This can be judged with coverage ratios — the higher these are, the more efficient an enterprise will be in meeting its financial obligations. Here, we have discussed one such ratio called the interest coverage ratio.

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

Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc., Leidos Holdings, Inc., Atmos Energy Corporation and Addus HomeCare Corporation are four stocks with an impressive interest coverage ratio.

Why Interest Coverage Ratio?

The interest coverage ratio is used to determine how effectively a company can pay the interest charged 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 a company's profits. The company’s creditworthiness depends on how effectively it meets its interest obligations. Therefore, the interest coverage ratio is one of the essential criteria to factor in before making any investment decision.

The interest coverage ratio suggests the number of times interest could be paid from earnings and also 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 hardship. 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.

Apart from having an interest coverage ratio that is more than the industry average, adding a favorable Zacks Rank and a VGM Score of A or B to your search criteria should lead to better results.

Here are four of the 15 stocks that qualified the screening:

Halozyme Therapeutics, a biopharma technology platform company, has a VGM Score of B and sports a Zacks Rank #1. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

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 24% in the past year.

Leidos Holdings, which provides services and solutions in the defense, intelligence, civil and health markets in the United States and internationally, sports a Zacks Rank #1 and has a VGM Score of B. 

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Leidos Holdings’ current financial year sales and EPS suggests growth of 5.4% and 22.5%, respectively, from a year ago. Leidos Holdings has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 23.5%, on average. The stock has rallied 46.5% 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 6.9% and 11%, respectively, from the year-ago period. The stock has risen 7.9% in the past year.
  
Addus HomeCare offers home care services, specializing in personal care to support daily living activities, alongside hospice and home health care services. The stock carries a Zacks Rank #2 and has a VGM Score of B.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Addus HomeCare’s current financial year sales and EPS suggests growth of 6.5% and 9.2%, respectively, from the year-ago period’s levels. ADUS has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 11.5%, on average. The stock has rallied 24.5% in the past year.

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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/2317150/4-stocks-that-flaunt-an-impressive-interest-coverage-ratio

Zacks Investment Research is under common control with affiliated entities (including a broker-dealer and an investment adviser), which may engage in transactions involving the foregoing securities for the clients of such affiliates.

Contact: Jim Giaquinto

Company: Zacks.com

Phone: 312-265-9268

Email: pr@zacks.com

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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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