Buy These 5 Low Leverage Stocks To Stay Afloat In Crisis

In corporate finance, leverage is the use of exogenous funds by corporations to run their operations smoothly and expand the same. Historically debt financing has been preferred over equity financing.

This is because when a company resorts to debt financing, it takes on fixed expenses in the form of interest payments for a specific time period.

However, in case of equity financing, a shareholder not only becomes a partial owner of the company but develops a direct claim on the company’s future profits as well. So, debt financing remains the preferred option for corporates.

However, one should keep in mind that debt financing remains a feasible option as long as the companies succeed in generating a higher rate of return compared to the interest rate. Exorbitant debt financing might even lead to a corporation’s bankruptcy in a worst case scenario.

Considering the fact that uncertainty can hit the share market any moment, it is better to take measures beforehand than repent later. This is why investors need to look for stocks that are relatively less leveraged, since a corporation with zero debt hardly exists.

And here comes the importance of leverage ratios, which can measure the exact amount of debt risk a company bears. Debt-to-equity ratio is one such measure, perhaps the most popular one, to evaluate a company’s creditworthiness for potential equity investments.

Analyzing Debt/Equity

Debt-to-Equity Ratio = Total Liabilities/Shareholders’ Equity

This metric is a liquidity ratio that indicates the amount of financial risk a company bears. A company with a lower debt-to-equity ratio shows improved solvency for a company.

As the third-quarter reporting season is knocking on the door, investors must be eyeing stocks that exhibited solid earnings growth in the prior quarters. But if a stock bears a high debt-to-equity ratio, in times of economic crisis, its so-called booming earnings picture might turn into a nightmare.

Thus, it will be wise for investors to select companies with low leverage.

These are financially more secure and immune to financial bankruptcy.

The Winning Strategy

Considering the aforementioned factors, it is prudent to choose stocks with a low debt-to-equity ratio to ensure steady returns.

However, an investment strategy based solely on the debt-to-equity ratio might not fetch the desired outcome. To choose stocks that have the potential to give you steady returns, we have expanded our screening criteria to include some other factors.

Here are the other parameters:

Debt/Equity less than X-Industry Median: Stocks that are less leveraged than their industry peers.

Current Price greater than or equal to 10: The stocks must be trading at a minimum of $10 or above.

Average 20-day Volume greater than or equal to 50000: A substantial trading volume ensures that the stock is easily tradable.

Percentage Change in EPS F(0)/F(-1) greater than X-Industry Median: Earnings growth adds to optimism, leading to a stock’s price appreciation.

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

Estimated One-Year EPS Growth F(1)/F(0) greater than 5: This shows earnings growth expectation.

Zacks Rank #1 or 2: Irrespective of market conditions, stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 have a proven history of success.

Excluding stocks that have a negative or a zero debt-to-equity ratio, here are five of the 21 stocks that made it through the screen.

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) : The company provides value-added natural resource products and related services that are essential to energy and transportation infrastructure. It delivered average positive earnings surprise of 1.64% in the last four quarters and currently carries a Zacks Rank #2.

Gibraltar Industries (NASDAQ:ROCK) : It is a leading manufacturer and distributor of building products for the industrial, infrastructure and residential markets. The company currently holds a Zacks Rank of 2 and delivered average positive earnings surprise of 0.01% in the last four quarters.

Chemed Corp. (NYSE:CHE) : It is the United States’ largest provider of end-of-life hospice care services through its VITAS Healthcare Corporation subsidiary. It came up with average positive earnings surprise of 4.81% in the preceding four quarters and sports a Zacks Rank #1. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Federal Signal Corporation (NYSE:FSS) : The company is a global business advisory firm. Currently, the company carries a Zacks Rank #2. It came up with average positive earnings surprise of 16.48% in the preceding four quarters.

SolarEdge Technologies (NASDAQ:SEDG) : It is a global leading PV inverter manufacturer. It sports a Zacks Rank #1. It delivered average positive earnings surprise of 1.23% in the last four quarters.

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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.