U.S. stock markets regained momentum buoyed by a two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran. Market participants are hopeful of a possible permanent solution to the geopolitical conflicts any time soon. President Donald Trump also stated that a negotiation is very much likely soon.
Consequently, just several stocks have shown price strength. We have primarily targeted stocks that have recently been on a bull run. These stocks have a high chance of carrying the momentum forward.
Five such stocks are — Intellicheck Inc. IDN, Cardinal Infrastructure Group Inc. CDNL, RCM Technologies Inc. RCMT, Aura Minerals Inc. AUGO and Mistras Group Inc. MG.
If a stock is continuously witnessing an uptrend, there must be a solid reason or it would have probably crashed. So, looking at stocks capable of beating the benchmark that they have set for themselves seems rational.
However, recent price strength alone cannot create magic. Therefore, other relevant parameters are needed to create a successful investment strategy.
Here’s how you should create the screen to shortlist the current as well as the potential winners.
Screening Parameters:
Percentage Change in Price (4 Weeks) greater than zero: This criterion shows that the stock has moved higher in the last four weeks.
Percentage Change Price (12 Weeks) greater than 10: This indicates that the stock has seen momentum over the last three months. This lowers the risk of choosing stocks that may have drawn attention due to the overwhelming performance of the overall market in a very short period.
Zacks Rank 1: No matter whether market conditions are good or bad, stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) have a proven history of outperformance. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Average Broker Rating 1: This indicates that brokers are also highly hopeful about the stock’s future performance.
Current Price greater than 5: The stocks must all be trading at a minimum of $5.
Current Price/ 52-Week High-Low Range more than 85%: This criterion filters stocks that are trading near their respective 52-week highs. It indicates that these are strong enough in terms of price.
Just these few criteria narrowed down the search from over 7,700 stocks to 13.
Let’s discuss five out of those 13 stocks here:
Intellicheck is a leading technology company, developing and marketing wireless technology and identity systems for various applications including: mobile and handheld wireless devices for the government, military and commercial markets. Products include the Defense ID system, an advanced ID card access control product currently protecting over 70 military and federal locations.
IDN’s ID-Check is a technology that instantly reads, analyzes and verifies encoded data in magnetic stripes and barcodes on government-issue IDs from approximately 60 U.S. and Canadian jurisdictions to determine if the content and format are valid.
IDN’s products are used to address government and commercial fraud, focusing on age verification, secure access control and software tools, driver's license readers, and ID validation markets. Intelli-Check Mobilisa sells its products through its direct sales force and marketing partners.
The stock price of Intellicheck has soared 67.1% over the past four weeks. The company has expected earnings growth of more than 100% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year’s earnings has improved more than 100% over the last 30 days.
Cardinal Infrastructure Group is a full-service turnkey infrastructure service company. CDNL provides infrastructure services to the residential, commercial, industrial, municipal, and state infrastructure markets in the United States. CDNL offers wet utility installations, such as water, sewer, and stormwater systems, as well as grading, site clearing, erosion control, drilling and blasting, paving, and other related site services.
The stock price of CDNL has jumped 58.6% over the past four weeks. It has an expected earnings growth rate of 51.9% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year’s earnings has improved 29.1% over the last 60 days.
RCM Technologies is a national provider of business, technology and resource solutions in information technology and professional engineering to customers in the corporate and government sectors.
RCMT has grown its information technology competencies in the areas of resource augmentation, e-business, Enterprise Resource Planning support, network and infrastructure support and knowledge management. RCMT's engineering expertise is in the form of technical design, field engineering, field support, procedures development and project and program management.
The stock price of RCM Technologies has climbed 57.4% over the past four weeks. The company has expected earnings growth of 10.8% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year’s earnings has improved 8.6% over the last 30 days.
Aura Minerals is a company focused on the development and operation of gold and base metal projects principally in the Americas. AUGO operates through the Minosa Mine, Apoena Mine, the Aranzazu Mine, Corporate, Almas Mine, and Borborema Projects segments.
The stock price of AUGO has surged 45.2% over the past four weeks. It has an expected earnings growth rate of more than 100% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for next year’s earnings has improved 48.6% over the last 60 days.
Mistras Group is a global provider of technology-enabled, non-destructive testing (NDT) solutions used to evaluate the structural integrity of critical energy, industrial and public infrastructure. MG delivers a portfolio of solutions, ranging from routine NDT inspections to plant-wide asset integrity assessment and management solutions.
MG serves a global customer base, including companies in the oil and gas, fossil and nuclear power generation and transmission, public infrastructure, chemicals, aerospace and defense, transportation, primary metals and metalworking, pharmaceuticals and food processing industries.
The stock price of Mistras Group has rallied 20.3% over the past four weeks. It has an expected earnings growth rate of 19.3% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for next year’s earnings has improved 6% over the last 60 days.
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Mistras Group Inc (MG): Free Stock Analysis Report
RCM Technologies, Inc. (RCMT): Free Stock Analysis Report
Intellicheck Mobilisa, Inc. (IDN): Free Stock Analysis Report
Aura Minerals Inc. (AUGO): Free Stock Analysis Report
Cardinal Infrastructure Group Inc. (CDNL): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).