Growth stocks are attractive to many investors, as above-average financial growth helps these stocks easily grab the market's attention and produce exceptional returns. But finding a growth stock that can live up to its true potential can be a tough task.
In addition to volatility, these stocks carry above-average risk by their very nature. Also, one could end up losing from a stock whose growth story is actually over or nearing its end.
However, it's pretty easy to find cutting-edge growth stocks with the help of the Zacks Growth Style Score (part of the Zacks Style Scores system), which looks beyond the traditional growth attributes to analyze a company's real growth prospects.
Our proprietary system currently recommends Hersha Hospitality (HT) as one such stock. This company not only has a favorable Growth Score, but also carries a top Zacks Rank.
Research shows that stocks carrying the best growth features consistently beat the market. And for stocks that have a combination of a Growth Score of A or B and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy), returns are even better.
While there are numerous reasons why the stock of this hotel real estate investment trust is a great growth pick right now, we have highlighted three of the most important factors below:
Earnings Growth
Earnings growth is arguably the most important factor, as stocks exhibiting exceptionally surging profit levels tend to attract the attention of most investors. For growth investors, double-digit earnings growth is highly preferable, as it is often perceived as an indication of strong prospects (and stock price gains) for the company under consideration.
While the historical EPS growth rate for Hersha Hospitality is 1.8%, investors should actually focus on the projected growth. The company's EPS is expected to grow 4.7% this year, crushing the industry average, which calls for EPS growth of 1.6%.
Impressive Asset Utilization Ratio
Asset utilization ratio -- also known as sales-to-total-assets (S/TA) ratio -- is often overlooked by investors, but it is an important indicator in growth investing. This metric exhibits how efficiently a firm is utilizing its assets to generate sales.
Right now, Hersha Hospitality has an S/TA ratio of 0.24, which means that the company gets $0.24 in sales for each dollar in assets. Comparing this to the industry average of 0.13, it can be said that the company is more efficient.
In addition to efficiency in generating sales, sales growth plays an important role. And Hersha Hospitality looks attractive from a sales growth perspective as well. The company's sales are expected to grow 7.8% this year versus the industry average of 2.3%.
Promising Earnings Estimate Revisions
Superiority of a stock in terms of the metrics outlined above can be further validated by looking at the trend in earnings estimate revisions. A positive trend is of course favorable here. Empirical research shows that there is a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements.
There have been upward revisions in current-year earnings estimates for Hersha Hospitality. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has surged 0.1% over the past month.
Bottom Line
While the overall earnings estimate revisions have made Hersha Hospitality a Zacks Rank #2 stock, it has earned itself a Growth Score of B based on a number of factors, including the ones discussed above.
You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
This combination indicates that Hersha Hospitality is a potential outperformer and a solid choice for growth investors.
Hersha Hospitality Trust (HT): Free Stock Analysis Report
Original post
Zacks Investment Research