Zacks’ Low Price Stocks Strategy Highlights
Looking for stocks priced below $20? How about companies with discount valuations and a track record of a positive trend in earnings estimates revisions? The Low Price Stocks Profit Track Strategy identifies such stocks. This screen generated a 51.9% return in 2005. Four stocks meeting this screen’s exclusive criteria are Hooker Furniture Corp. (Nasdaq:HOFT), Kingsway Financial Services Inc. (NYSE:KFS), Pinnacle Airlines Corp. (Nasdaq:PNCL) and Rush Enterprises, Inc. (Nasdaq:RUSHA). View the entire list of stocks for the Low Price Stocks Profit Track at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2140.
Here are details about four companies currently identified by the Low Price Stocks Profit Track:
Hooker Furniture Corp. (Nasdaq:HOFT) posted profits of 49 cents per share for its second quarter. The result topped last year’s 41 cents and exceeded the consensus estimate by 69%. HOFT’s report, which was released in early July, stated that the company managed a strong finish during the last two weeks of the quarter that propelled its top line increase. Hooker Furniture earned $1.40 per share during the past 12 months and it sports a price-to-sales ratio of 0.61.
Kingsway Financial Services Inc. (NYSE:KFS) recently announced its financial results for the second quarter. Earnings per share improved year-over-year for the truck insurer. KFS, which primarily offers commercial trucking insurance and nonstandard automobile insurance, noted that quarterly income was a record and it experienced a very positive first half of 2006. The company meets the criteria for this Profit Track with a price-to-sales ratio of 0.59 and earnings per share profitability of $2.00 over the past 12 months.
Pinnacle Airlines Corp. (Nasdaq:PNCL) reported second-quarter earnings in early August. The result jumped ahead of analysts’ expectations by approximately 19%. PNCL stated that it continued to exceed its already high standards, and its strong operating performance will help it retain Northwest Airlines as a customer. The company operates through its wholly owned subsidiary, Pinnacle Airlines, Inc., as a regional airline that provides airline capacity to Northwest Airlines, Inc. (Northwest) in the United States. Pinnacle Airlines offers a price-to-sales ratio of 0.17 and experienced earnings per share profitability of $2.43 over the past 12 months.
Rush Enterprises, Inc. (Nasdaq:RUSHA) earned $1.94 per share over the past 12 months and has a price-to-sales ratio of 0.14. In mid-July, the company announced second-quarter profits, which increased from last year’s second quarter. The earnings per share also surpassed Wall Street estimates by about 12%. RUSHA, which operates the largest network of heavy-duty and medium-duty truck dealerships in North America and a John Deere construction equipment dealership in Houston, Texas, said 2006 is on track to be a record year in terms of truck deliveries and parts, service, body shop and finance and insurance revenues.
Discover all the current stocks currently on the Low Price Stocks Profit Track at: http://at.zacks.com/?id=2141.
About Profit Tracks
What is a "Profit Track"? Each Profit Track is a successful stock picking strategy with proven results through the Bear Market of 2001-2002 and the Bull Run started in 2003. On Zacks.com we have created these nine unique screens to offer investors great strategies to potentially outperform the market in the years ahead. In 2005, the Low Price Stocks strategy was the top performing Profit Track with a return of +51.9% followed by the Recent Price Strength screen with a +35.5% return. To see all nine strategies along with philosophy, past performance, and current stocks, go to http://at.zacks.com/?id=1838
All the Profit Track strategies were created and backtested using the Research Wizard software from Zacks Investment Research. If you like this screening strategy, but want to narrow down the list of stocks and even improve the performance, then you should start a free trial to this powerful stock picking tool. Learn more about the Research Wizard free trial offer and our new special report "Top 10 Stock Screening Strategies" at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2156
About Zacks
Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978 by Leonard Zacks. As a PhD in mathematics Len knew he could find patterns in stock market data that would lead to superior investment results. Amongst his many accomplishments was the formation of his proprietary stock picking system; the Zacks Rank, which continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it’s your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros at http://at.zacks.com/?id=1841
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