Ride On Rising P/E Investing With These 5 Top-Ranked Stocks

Generally, investors love stocks with a low price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio. The perception is that the lower the P/E, the higher will be the value of the stock. The simple logic that a stock’s current market price does not justify (is not equivalent to) its higher earnings and therefore has room to run is behind investors’ inclination toward low P/E stocks.

But stocks with a rising P/E can be equally worth buying. We’ll tell you why.

Why Rising P/E a Valuable Tool?

Investors should note that stock price moves in tandem with earnings performance. If earnings come in stronger, the price of a stock shoots up. Solid quarterly earnings and the forward guidance boost earnings forecasts, leading to stronger demand for the stock and an uptrend in its price.

So, if the price is rising steadily, it means that investors are assured of the stock’s fundamental strength and expect some strong positives out of it. Suppose an investor wants to buy a stock with a P/E ratio of 30, it means that he is willing to shell out $30 for only $1 worth of earnings. This is because the investor expects earnings of the company to rise at a faster pace in the future on the back of strong fundamentals.

Also, studies have revealed that stocks have seen their P/E ratios jump over 100% from their breakout point in the cycle. So, if you can pick stocks early in their breakout cycle, you can end up seeing considerable gains.

The Winning Strategy

In order to shortlist stocks that are exhibiting an increasing P/E, we chose the following as our primary screening parameters.

EPS growth estimate for the current year is greater than or equal to last year’s actual growth

Percentage change in last year EPS should be greater than or equal to zero

(These two criteria point to flat earnings or a growth trend over the years.)

Percentage change in price over four weeks greater than the percentage change in price over 12 weeks

Percentage change in price over 12 weeks greater than percentage change in price over 24 weeks

(These two criteria show that price of the stock is increasing consistently over the said timeframes.)

Percentage price change for four weeks relative to the S&P 500 greater than the percentage price change for 12 weeks relative to the S&P 500

Percentage price change for 12 weeks relative to the S&P 500 greater than the percentage price change for 24 weeks relative to the S&P 500

(Here, the case for consistent price gains gets even stronger as it displays percentage price changes relative to the S&P 500.)

Percentage price change for 12 weeks is 20% higher than or equal to the percentage price change for 24 weeks, but it should not exceed 100%

(A 20% increase in the price of a stock from the breakout point gives cues of an impending uptrend. But a jump of over 100% indicates that there is limited scope for further upside and that the stock might be due for a reversal.)

In addition, we place a few other criteria that lead us to some likely outperformers.

Zacks Rank equals to 1: Only companies with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) can get through.

Average 20-day Volume greater than or equal to 50,000: High trading volume implies that the stocks have adequate liquidity.

Just these few criteria narrowed down the universe from over 7,700 stocks to just 57.

Here are five out of the 57 stocks:

Ralph Lauren Corporation ( (NYSE:RL) ): This is engaged in designing, marketing and distributing men's, women's and children's apparel and accessories. It carries a Zacks Rank #2. It hails from a top-ranked Zacks industry (top 11%). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Nu Skin Enterprises Inc. ( (NYSE:NUS) ): This Zacks Rank #2 company is a premier anti-aging company. It belongs to a top-ranked Zacks industry (top 37%).

Tilly's Inc. ( (NYSE:TLYS) ): This Zacks Rank #2 company is a specialty retailer in the action sports industry selling clothing, shoes and accessories. It belongs to a top-ranked Zacks industry (top 15%).

Centene Corporation ( (NYSE:CNC) ):This Zacks Rank #2 company is a diversified, multi-national healthcare enterprise. It comes from a top-ranked Zacks industry (top 15%).

STAAR Surgical Company (NASDAQ:STAA) : This Zacks Rank #2 company has evolved to become a developer, manufacturer and global distributor of products used by ophthalmologists. It belongs to a top-ranked Zacks industry (top 26%).

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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.