The Trump administration’s tariff-related policies have resulted in significant turbulence in U.S. equity markets, slowing down the domestic economy apart from giving rise to recession fears. The volatility has resulted in the three major stock indexes — the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite — being in negative territory year to date.
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Given the tariff-led market mayhem and the rise in inflation over the past few months, volatility is likely to rule in the coming days. However, this does not mean that investors should turn their backs to investing. Keeping an eye on broker-loved stocks like Cleveland-Cliff CLF, Peabody Energy BTU, CVR Energy CVI, Delek US Holdings DK and Centene Corporation CNC appears prudent.
We have designed a screen to shortlist stocks based on improving broker recommendations and upward revisions in earnings estimates over the past four weeks. Also, since the price/sales ratio is a strong complementary valuation metric in the presence of broker information, it has been included. The price/sales ratio takes care of the company’s top line, making the strategy a well-rounded one.
Screening Criteria
# (Up- Down Rating)/ Total (4 weeks) =Top #75 (This gives the list of the top 75 companies that have witnessed net upgrades over the last 4 weeks).
% change in Q (1) est. (4 weeks) = Top #10 (This gives the top 10 stocks that have witnessed earnings estimate revisions over the past 4 weeks for the upcoming quarter).
Price-to-Sales = Bot%10 (The lower the ratio, the better. Companies meeting this criterion are in the bottom 10% of our universe of over 7,700 stocks with respect to this ratio).
Price greater than 5 (as a stock trading below $5 will not likely create significant interest for most of the investors).
Average Daily Volume greater than 100,000 shares over the last 20 trading days (Volume has to be significant to ensure that these are easily traded).
Market value ($ mil) = Top #3000 (This gives us stocks that are the top 3000 in terms of market capitalization).
Com/ADR/Canadian= Com (This takes out the ADR and Canadian stocks).
Here are five of the 10 stocks that made it through the screen:
Cleveland-Cliffs is a leading iron ore producer in the United States. It supplies differentiated iron ore pellets under long-term contracts to major blast furnace steel producers in North America. The Mining and Pelletizing operation gains from low-cost, high-quality iron ore pellet production with substantial logistics and transportation advantages to serve the Great Lakes steel market. Its merger with AK Steel has provided operational synergies and enhanced shareholder value.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings and revenues indicates growth of 20.6% and 5.1%, respectively from 2024 actuals. CLF currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here
St Louis, MO-based Peabody Energy engages in the coal mining business and has thermal and metallurgical operations. It has the flexibility to increase volumes should demand warrant. The company has a few coal supply agreements (excluding trading and brokerage transactions) expiring at various periods, assuring a steady flow of revenues.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Peabody Energy’s 2025 earnings per share has gone down by 5.9% over the past 60 days. The current dividend yield of the company is 2.9%. The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #3.
Established in 2006, CVR Energy is a holding company primarily involved in renewable energy, petroleum refining, marketing, and nitrogen fertilizer manufacturing through its stake in CVR Partners. It is committed to developing renewable biofuels and actively participating in the energy transition to reduce carbon emissions.
CVI beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in two of the trailing four quarters, missing the mark in the other two, the average negative surprise being 36%. The company currently carries a Zacks Rank of 3.
Brentwood, TN-based Delek US Holdings is an independent refiner, transporter and marketer of petroleum products. DK’s extensive downstream operations within the Permian Basin grant it a fairly significant competitive edge over its peers in the long term.
Delek US Holdings currently carries a Zacks Rank #3. DK beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in each of the trailing four quarters, the average beat being 22.3%.
Centene boasts an impressive inorganic growth strategy for expanding into new markets. Contract wins are increasing its medical membership base.
CNC surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in three of the last four quarters and missed the mark once. The average beat was 21.8%. The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #3.
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 test them first before taking the investment plunge.
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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.
Disclosure: Performance information for Zacks’ portfolios and strategies are available at: https://www.zacks.com/performance.
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