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Zacks.com highlights: Caleres, Archer Daniels Midland, WellCare Health Plans, Comstock Resources and United States Steel

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – April 17, 2018 - Stocks in this week’s article include: Caleres, Inc. (CAL - Free Report) , Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM - Free Report) , WellCare Health Plans, Inc , Comstock Resources, Inc. (CRK - Free Report) and United States Steel Corporation (X - Free Report) .

Screen of the Week of Zacks Investment Research:

5 Stocks in the Spotlight on Recent Broker Rating Upgrades

The Q1 earnings season is at an early stage with reports available from only a handful of companies. A high proportion of companies are yet to unveil their numbers. This is a very busy time for investors looking to add stocks, which have the potential to surpass earnings expectations in the current reporting cycle. This is because an earnings beat generally leads to stock price appreciation.

However, the task of selecting stocks for handsome returns is by no means easy with a plethora of stocks flooding the market at any given point in time. The uncertainties in the investment world make the task even more daunting. This is all the more true now, as uncertainty has gripped investors owing to the Syria-related tensions and the well-documented concerns about Facebook.

In this backdrop, identifying a winning stock is akin to searching for ‘a needle in a haystack’, for an investor. Proper guidance, in this respect, comes from brokers, who are deemed to be experts, with vast knowledge of investing.

Generally, there are three types of brokers/analysts (sell-side, buy-side and independent) present in the investment world. Out of the three, sell-side analysts are most common. Various brokerage firms employ them to provide unbiased opinion to investors after thorough research. Buy-side analysts are employed by hedge funds, mutual funds etc. while the independent ones simply sell their reports to investors.

Broker Advice - An Invaluable Guide

Brokers not only scrutinize the publicly available financial documents but also attend company conference calls and other presentations. Naturally, it is in the best interest of investors to pay heed to such well-researched information as they aim to generate maximum returns from their portfolio.

Since brokers closely follow the stocks in their coverage, they revise earnings estimates only after carefully examining the pros and cons of an event for the concerned company. In fact, a rating upgrade or downgrade by brokers has the potential to influence the price of the stock.

Naturally, when investors see brokers revising their estimates or recommendation on a stock, they often assume that there is something in the stock that has attracted analyst attention. In fact, a rating upgrade generally leads to stock price appreciation. Similarly, the price of a stock may plummet following a rating downgrade.

Estimates can move north for a number of reasons – favorable earnings performance, a bullish guidance, product launch or any favorable macro scenario.

And that's what we're screening for today…

For the rest of this Screen of the Week article please visit Zacks.com at: https://www.zacks.com/stock/news/299313/5-stocks-in-the-spotlight-on-recent-broker-rating-upgrades

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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.

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

Many are little publicized and fly under the Wall Street radar. They're virtually unknown to the general public. Yet today's 220 Zacks Rank #1 "Strong Buys" were generated by the stock-picking system that has more than doubled the market from 1988 through 2016. Its average gain has been a stellar +25% per year. See these high-potential stocks free >>.

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Contact: Jim Giaquinto

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