Looking for stocks priced below $20? How about companies with discount valuations and a track record of a positive trend in earnings estimates revisions? The Low Price Stocks Profit Track Strategy identifies such stocks. This screen generated a +56.5% return in 2006. Four stocks meeting this screen’s exclusive criteria are Rent-A-Center Inc. (NASDAQ:RCII), Gerdau AmeriSteel Corp. (NYSE: GNA), Volvo AB (OTC: VOLVY), AU Optronics Corp. (NYSE: AUO). View the entire list of stocks for the Low Price Stocks Profit Track at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2140.
Here are details about four companies currently identified by the Low Price Stocks Profit Track:
Rent-A-Center Inc. (NASDAQ:RCII) has a share price a tad under $20, which keeps this rental giant on the Low Price Profit Track. RCII hit some 52-week lows throughout January, but has bounced back and is presently one of the top performers in the industry. With a low price/sales ratio of 0.43 and a 12-month trailing EPS of $1.99, RCII reported fourth quarter results that were way above the analysts’ estimates. In early December the company announced its plan to close 280 stores within a three-month period. This cost-saving strategy has led analysts to bump up 2008 EPS estimates. The rent-to-own chain is currently sporting a Zacks # 1 Rank and a Zacks Industry Rank of 78.
Gerdau AmeriSteel Corp. (NYSE: GNA) is scheduled to release 2007 year-end results before the markets open on Feb 13, 2008. The steel producer finds itself on the Low Price Profit Track with a Zacks #1 Rank and a share price of $12.66. On Jan 24, 2008, the company declared that it is planning to expand its Jacksonville Steel Mill, located in Baldwin, Florida. The expansion is expected to bring forth the lowest cost products in the industry and should be completed by 2010. GNA is enjoying a price/sales ratio of 0.76 and an EPS of $1.52.
Volvo AB (OTC: VOLVY) recently reported a 9.8% net sales increase in the fourth quarter, which was mainly due to perpetual growth in the European and Asian markets. Yearly net sales for Volvo increased from SEK 258,835 million in 2006 to SEK 285,405 million in 2007. The transportation manufacturer qualified for this Profit Track with a 12-month trailing EPS of $1.10 and a current share price of $12.80. On top of that, VOLVY sports a price/sales ratio of 0.80 and a Zacks #1 Rank.
AU Optronics Corp. (NYSE: AUO) is one of the top three manufacturers of thin film transistor liquid crystal display panels. AUO was formed in 2001 by the merger of Acer Display Technology, Inc., and Unipac Optoelectronics Corporation. This Zacks #1 Rank company has a 12-month trailing EPS of $2.57 and a price/sales ratio of 0.88. AUO has performed phenomenally over the past year, with an increase in profits from New Taiwan (NT) $9.10 billion in 2006, to NT $56.5 billion in 2007. With a current share price of $16.37, AU Optronics qualifies for the Low Price Profit Track.
Discover all the current stocks currently on the Low Price Stocks Profit Track at: http://at.zacks.com/?id=2141.
About Profit Tracks
What is a "Profit Track"? Each Profit Track is a successful stock picking strategy with proven results through the Bear Market of 2001-2002 and the Bull Run started in 2003. On Zacks.com we have created these nine unique screens to offer investors great strategies to potentially outperform the market in the years ahead. In 2006, the Low Price Stocks strategy was the top performing Profit Track with a return of +56.5% followed by the Discounted Fundamental screen with a +34% return. To see all nine strategies along with philosophy, past performance, and current stocks, go to http://at.zacks.com/?id=1838
All the Profit Track strategies were created and backtested using the Research Wizard software from Zacks Investment Research. If you like this screening strategy, but want to narrow down the list of stocks and even improve the performance, then you should start a free trial to this powerful stock picking tool. Learn more about the Research Wizard free trial offer and our new special report “Top 10 Stock Screening Strategies” at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2156
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The performance of the Zacks Rank portfolios for annual and year-to-date periods are the linked monthly total returns (price changes + dividends) of equal weighted hypothetical portfolios, consisting of those stocks with the indicated Zacks Rank, assuming monthly rebalancing and zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios. The hypothetical portfolios were created at the beginning of each month from January 1988 forward based on the values of the Zacks Rank available to Zacks' clients before the beginning of each month. The portfolios created monthly from 1988 through September 2006 exclude ADRs and are comprised of stocks that have the indicated Zacks Rank and were covered by at least two analysts at the time of the stocks inclusion in the portfolio. Starting in October 2006 and going forward, the portfolios are comprised of all stocks with the indicated Zacks Rank and do not exclude ADRs, which is more reflective of the list of stocks that customers will find on the Zacks web sites. These performance numbers have been audited from 1995 through 2003 by Virchow, Krause & Company, LLP.
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