5 Stocks to Bet on Right Now on Upgraded Broker Ratings

Amid the bearish market sentiments, it’s difficult for individual investors to select stocks on their own and generate strong returns. Persistent macroeconomic and geopolitical issues remain major near-term concerns. Thus, selecting stocks at present is a daunting task.

How does one choose the right stocks? One way is to follow rating upgrades by brokers. In this regard, stocks like Genuine Parts Company GPC, RingCentral, Inc. RNG, Waters Corporation WAT, PBF Energy Inc. PBF and Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. AJG are worth investing.

Brokers have insight into what’s happening at a particular company as they directly communicate with management. Also, they have a deeper understanding of the overall industry.

Further, brokers go through a company’s publicly available financial statements, listen to conference calls and talk directly with the top brass. At times, they even interact with customers to gauge what they like or dislike about the products and services offered by the company.

Hence, after thorough research, brokers decide to rate a particular company’s stock. Naturally, when brokers upgrade a stock, one can easily rely on it.

Yet, solely depending on analysts’ upgrades is not the correct way to build your investment portfolio. One should also take into consideration other factors to ensure solid returns.

Selecting the Winning Strategy

We have a screening strategy that will help you in your search for potential winners:

Broker Rating Upgrades (four weeks) of 1% or more: The screen selects stocks that have witnessed broker rating upgrades of 1% or more over the last four weeks.

Current Price greater than $5: The stocks must be trading above $5.

Average 20-day Volume greater than 100,000: A large trading volume guarantees that the stock is easily tradable.

Zacks Rank equal to #1 or 2: No matter whether market conditions are good or bad, stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy) have a proven record of success. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

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 or 2 offer the best upside potential.

Here are the five of the 18 stocks that qualified the screening:

Atlanta-based Genuine Parts distributes automotive and industrial replacement parts and materials. Currently, GPC operates through two segments: Automotive Parts and Industrial Parts.

The company’s earnings for 2022 are expected to grow 13.6%. Genuine Parts, currently carrying a Zacks Rank #2, has witnessed a 14.3% upward revision in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

Belmont, CA-based RingCentral is a leading provider of Unified Communications as a Service solutions. RNG’s cloud-based business communications and collaboration solutions are designed to provide a single user identity across multiple locations and devices.

RingCentral’s 2022 earnings are projected to rise 38.1%. The stock, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 at present, has witnessed a 5.6% upward revision in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

Milford, MA-based Waters is an analytical instrument manufacturer and offers practical and sustainable products for laboratory-dependent organizations. WAT provides analytical workflow solutions based on mass spectrometry, liquid chromatography and thermal analysis technologies.

The company’s earnings for 2022 are expected to grow 7.6%. Waters, which currently carries a Zacks Rank #2, has witnessed a 10% upward revision in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

PBF Energy, based in Parsippany, NJ, is a leading refiner of crude. Through five oil refineries and associated infrastructure in the United States, PBF provides end products that comprise heating oil, transportation fuels, lubricants and many related products.

PBF Energy’s 2022 earnings are projected to surge 330.8%. The stock, sporting a Zacks Rank #1 at present, has witnessed a 10% upward revision in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

Headquartered in Itasca, IL, Arthur J. Gallagher provides insurance brokerage and consulting services and third-party claims settlement and administration services. While AJG boasts the world’s largest property/casualty third-party claims administrator, it ranks fourth-largest globally among insurance brokers based on revenues.

The company’s earnings for 2022 are expected to jump 42%. Arthur J. Gallagher, currently carrying a Zacks Rank #2, has witnessed a 9.1% upward revision in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

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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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Genuine Parts Company (GPC) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Waters Corporation (WAT) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (AJG) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
PBF Energy Inc. (PBF) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Ringcentral, Inc. (RNG) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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