A common investing technique is to hunt for stocks with a low price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio. That’s because this basic measure of how much investors are spending for $1 worth of earnings speaks of undervaluation. The logic is simple – a stock’s current market price does not justify its higher earnings and therefore leaves room for upside.
But have you ever given it a thought that stocks with a rising P/E can also be worth buying. We’ll tell you why.
Power of Increasing P/E
The concept is that as earnings rise, so should the price of the stock. As forecasts for expected earnings come in higher, strong demand for the stock should continue to push up its prices. After all, astock's P/E gives an indication of how much investors are ready to shell out per dollar of earnings.
Suppose an investor wants to buy a stock with a P/E ratio of 30, it means that he is willing to shell out $30 for only $1 worth of earnings. Now if the P/E ratio becomes 35 within a short spell of time, it means that the person is ready to pay $35 for only $1 worth of earnings. It shows that the investor expects earnings of the company to rise at a faster pace in the future owing to strong fundamentals.
So, if the P/E of a stock is rising steadily, it means that investors are assured of its inherent strength and expect some strong positives out of it. Also, studies have revealed that stocks have seen their P/E ratios jump over 100% from their breakout point in the cycle. So, if you can pick stocks early in their breakout cycle, you can end up seeing considerable gains.
The Winning Strategy
In order to shortlist stocks that are exhibiting an increasing P/E, we chose the following as our primary screening parameters.
EPS growth estimate for the current year is greater than or equal to last year’s actual growth
Percentage change in last year EPS should be greater than or equal zero
(These two criteria point to flat earnings or a growth trend over the years.)
Percentage change in price over four weeks greater than the percentage change in price over 12 weeks
Percentage change in price over 12 weeks greater than percentage change in price over 24 weeks
(These two criteria show that price of the stock is increasing consistently over the said timeframes.)
Percentage price change for four weeks relative to the S&P 500 greater than the percentage price change for 12 weeks relative to the S&P 500
Percentage price change for 12 weeks relative to the S&P 500 greater than the percentage price change for 24 weeks relative to the S&P 500
(Here, the case for consistent price gains gets even stronger as it displays percentage price changes relative to the S&P 500.)
Percentage price change for 12 weeks is 20% higher than or equal to the percentage price change for 24 weeks, but it should not exceed 100%
(A 20% increase in the price of a stock from the breakout point gives cues of an impending uptrend. But a jump of over 100% indicates that there is limited scope for further upside and that the stock might be due for a reversal.).
In addition, we place a few other criteria that lead us to some likely outperformers.
Zacks Rank less than or equal to 2: Only companies with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy) can get through.
Average 20-day Volume greater than or equal to 50,000: High trading volume implies that the stocks have adequate liquidity.
Just these few criteria narrowed down the universe from over 7,700 stocks to just 66.
Here are five out of the 66 stocks:
Columbia Sportswear Company (COLM): The company is a global leader in design, sourcing, marketing and distribution of active outdoor apparel and footwear. It hails from a top-ranked Zacks industry (top 25%). The stock carries a Zacks Rank #1.
American Woodmark Corporation (AMWD): The company is the third-largest manufacturer of kitchen and bath cabinets. It comes from a top-ranked Zacks industry (top 34%). The stock has a Zacks Rank #2.
DICK'S Sporting Goods Inc. (DKS): This Zacks Rank #2 company is a leading omni-channel sporting goods retailer offering an extensive assortment of authentic, high-quality sports equipment, apparel, footwear and accessories. It comes from a top-ranked Zacks industry (top 42%). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Alder BioPharmaceuticals Inc. (ALDR): The company is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company. The stock carries a Zacks Rank #2. It belongs to a top-ranked Zacks industry (top 36%).
Leap Therapeutics Inc. (LPTX): It is a biopharmaceutical company. It has a Zacks Rank #2. The stock hails from a top-ranked Zacks industry (top 36%).
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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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