5 Top-Ranked Stocks With Upgraded Broker Ratings To Bet On

With the second-quarter earnings season knocking on the door, all eyes will be on the financial performance of companies. But one should not get carried away by the performance of a company in just one quarter.

A thorough research is required before one invests in stocks. Nonetheless, for a retail investor it is not an easy task to select stocks from the vast investment options. Hence, advice from an expert is helpful.

By following broker rating upgrades, one can easily find attractive stocks. Brokers have in depth idea about what’s happening in a particular company, as they directly communicate with top management. Also, they exhaustively go through the company’s publicly available documents and attend conference calls.

In addition, brokers have a thorough understanding of the overall industry. They place the company fundamentals against the current economic backdrop to find out how the stock will fare as an investment.

Hence, when a broker upgrades a stock, you can rely on their judgment. But solely depending on broker upgrades is not a good way to build your investment portfolio. One must also take into account some other factors to ensure steady returns.

Picking the Winning Strategy

We have a screening strategy that will help in your search for potential winners:

Broker Rating Upgrades (4 weeks): The screen selects stocks that have witnessed broker rating upgrades over the last four weeks.

Current Price greater than 5: The stocks must be trading above $5.

Average 20-day Volume greater than 100,000: A large trading volume guarantees that the stock is easily tradable.

Zacks Rank equal to #1: No matter whether market conditions are good or bad, stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) have a proven record of success. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

VGM Score equal to A: Our research shows that stocks with a VGM Score of A or B when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 or 2 (Buy) offer the best upside potential.

Here are five of the seven stocks that made it through the screen:

Headquartered in Zeeland, MI, Herman Miller, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLHR) is engaged in the research, design, manufacture, and distribution of office furniture systems, seating products, other freestanding furniture elements, textiles, home furnishings, and related services. The company’s earnings are expected to grow at the rate of 7.4% in the current fiscal year. The stock has witnessed 22.2% upward revision in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) , headquartered in Milwaukee, WI, is a publicly owned investment manager. The company’s current year earnings are expected to grow at the rate of 48.4%. The stock has witnessed 6.7% upward revision in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

St. Petersburg, FL-based Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL) provides electronic manufacturing services and solutions. The company’s earnings are expected to grow at the rate of 18% for the current fiscal year. The stock has witnessed 5.2% upward revision in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

SYNNEX Corporation (NYSE:SNX) , based in Fremont, CA, offers business process services to resellers, system integrators, retailers, and original equipment manufacturers. The company’s current year earnings are expected to grow at the rate of 19.8%. The stock has witnessed 40% upward revision in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

Milwaukee, WI-based ManpowerGroup Inc. (NYSE:MAN) provides workforce solutions and services. For the current year, the company’s earnings are projected to grow at the rate of 6.2%. The stock has witnessed 12% upward revision in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

Get the rest of the stocks on the list and start putting this and other ideas to the test. It can all be done with the Research Wizard stock picking and back testing software.

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.

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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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Synnex Corporation (SNX): Free Stock Analysis Report

Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (APAM): Free Stock Analysis Report

Jabil Circuit, Inc. (JBL): Free Stock Analysis Report

ManpowerGroup (MAN): Free Stock Analysis Report

Herman Miller, Inc. (MLHR): Free Stock Analysis Report

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