An ill-informed investor can end up losing cash if he wagers on a stock only on the basis of the numbers flashing on a real-time stock screen. A critical analysis of a company’s financial background is essential for wise investment decisions.
Often, investors evaluate a company’s performance by simply looking at its sales and earnings, which sometimes do not reveal the real picture. To be more precise, they do not tell whether a company’s fundamentals are sound enough to meet its financial obligations. Here, the coverage ratio comes into play — the higher the metric, the more efficient an enterprise will be in meeting its financial obligations.
Why Interest Coverage Ratio?
Interest Coverage Ratio is used to determine how effectively a company can pay interest charges on its debt.
Debt, which is crucial to financing operations for majority of companies, comes at a cost called interest. Interest expense has a direct bearing on the profitability of a company. The company’s creditworthiness depends on how effectively it meets its interest obligations. Therefore, Interest Coverage Ratio is one of the important criteria to factor in before making any investment decision.
Interest Coverage Ratio = Earnings before Interest & Taxes (EBIT) divided by Interest Expense.
Interest Coverage Ratio suggests how many times the interest could be paid from earnings and gauges the margin of safety a firm has for paying interest.
An interest coverage ratio lower than one suggests that the company is unable to fulfill its interest obligations and could default on repaying debt. A company that is capable of generating earnings well above its interest expense can withstand financial hardships. One should also track the company’s past performance to determine whether the interest coverage ratio has improved or worsened over a period of time.
The Winning Strategy
Apart from having an Interest Coverage ratio that is more than the industry average, adding a favorable Zacks Rank and a VGM Score of A or B to your search criteria should lead to better results.
Interest Coverage Ratio greater than X-Industry Median
Price greater than or equal to 5: The stocks must all be trading at a minimum of $5 or higher.
5-Year Historical EPS Growth (%) greater than X-Industry Median: Stocks that have a strong EPS growth history.
Projected EPS Growth (%) greater than X-Industry Median: This is the projected EPS growth over the next three to five years. This shows that the stock has near-term earnings growth potential.
Average 20-Day Volume greater than 100,000: A substantial trading volume ensures that the stock is easily tradable.
Zacks Rank less than or equal to 2: Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy) stocks are known to outperform irrespective of the market environment.
VGM Score of less than or equal to B: Our research shows that stocks with a VGM Score of A or B when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 or 2 offer the best upside potential.
Here are four of the 12 stocks that qualified the screening:
Herc Holdings (NYSE:HRI) Inc. HRI, which operates as an equipment rental supplier primarily in the United States and internationally, has a VGM Score of A. This Zacks Rank #1 company has an expected EPS growth rate of 49.2% for three-five years. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Echo Global Logistics (NASDAQ:ECHO), Inc. ECHO, which provides technology-enabled transportation and supply chain management solutions, has a VGM Score of A. This Zacks Rank #1 company has an expected EPS growth rate of 17.5% for three-five years.
Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) TGT, which operates as a general merchandise retailer, has a VGM Score of A. This Zacks Rank #2 company has an expected EPS growth rate of 13.3% for three-five years.
Floor & Decor Holdings, Inc. FND, a multi-channel specialty retailer of hard surface flooring and related accessories, has a VGM Score of B. This Zacks Rank #2 company has an expected EPS growth rate of 26.8% for three-five years.
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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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Target Corporation (TGT): Free Stock Analysis Report
Echo Global Logistics, Inc. (ECHO): Free Stock Analysis Report
Herc Holdings Inc. (HRI): Free Stock Analysis Report
Floor & Decor Holdings, Inc. (FND): Free Stock Analysis Report
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