4 Hot Momentum Stocks For Remarkable Returns

When value or growth investing fails to fetch sustained profits, one should explore another time-tested winning strategy that simply bets on the frontrunner stocks. Translated, one of the most successful strategies today is to get in on momentum stocks at the right time.

At the core, momentum investing is buying high, selling higher. It is based on the idea that once a stock establishes a trend, it is more likely to continue in that direction than move against the drift. Thus, this strategy calls for hitching a ride on an already fast-moving train, without fretting about valuations or growth prospects. But why does the momentum strategy work?

There is a simple reason behind this. It works because we are humans!

There’s a whole laundry list of behavioral biases which most investors exhibit, and these emotional responses and mistakes are the very reason why momentum strategy works. For instance, there are investors who are anxious about booking losses and hence, hold on to losing stocks for too long, hopeful of a rebound in the prices. On the other hand, a few investors sell their winners way too early.

Furthermore, investors initially tend to under-react to news, events or data releases. However, once things become clear, they tend to go with the flow and overreact, causing dramatic price reactions.

These behavioral problems extend trends, and thus open up huge opportunities for momentum players. So basically, it’s a way to benefit from the general human tendency to extrapolate current trends into the future.

Momentum investing is, thus, based on that gap in time that exists before the mean reversion occurs, i.e. before prices become rational again.

Momentum strategies have been known to be alpha-generative over a long period of time and across market stages. So obviously, this strategy is quite tricky to implement, as detecting these trends is no child’s play.

Here, we have created a strategy that will help investors get in on these fast movers and rake in handsome gains. Our screen will help you benefit from both long-term price momentum and a short-term pullback in price, which reflects some profit-taking in the stock.

Screening Parameters

Percentage Change Price (52 Weeks) = Top #50: This item selects the top 50 stocks with the best percentage price change over the last 52 weeks. This parameter ensures we get stocks which have appreciated the maximum over the past year.

Percentage Change in Price (1 Week) = Bottom #10: From the above 50 stocks, we then choose those that are also among the 10 worst performers over a short one-week 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.

Momentum Style Score of B or better: A top Momentum Style Score knocks out a lot of the screening process as it takes into account several factors, including volume change and performance relative to its peers. It indicates when the timing is best to grab a stock and take advantage of its momentum with the highest probability of success. Stocks with a Momentum Score of A or B, when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 or 2 (Buy), handily outperform other stocks.

Current Price greater than 5: The stocks must all be trading at a minimum of $5.

Market Capitalization = Top #3000: We have chosen stocks that are among the top 3000, in terms of market value to ensure strong liquidity.

Average 20-Day Volume greater than 100,000: A substantial trading volume ensures that these stocks are easily tradable.

Here are four of the eight stocks that made it through this screen:

Weight Watchers International, Inc. (NYSE:WTW) , which provides weight management services worldwide, has gained an impressive 198% over the past year. The company has a Momentum Score of A.

Urban Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ:URBN) , a lifestyle products and services company, engages in the retail and wholesale of general consumer products, has gained a whopping 117% in the past year. The company carries a Momentum Score of A.

Shares of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) , which operates as an integrated power company in the United States, have returned nearly 98% in the past year. The company has a Momentum Score of A.

Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) provides car and truck rentals, car sharing, and ancillary services to businesses and consumers worldwide. The stock has appreciated 91.9% in the past year and has a Momentum Score of A.

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.

The Research Wizard is a great place to begin. It's easy to use. Everything is in plain language. And it's very intuitive. Start your Research Wizard trial today. And the next time you read an economic report, open up the Research Wizard, plug your finds in, and see what gems come out.

Click here to sign up for a free trial to the Research Wizard today.

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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