Stocks To Buy Now: STZ, HRB, And REGN Top The List Of Smart Investments

stocks to buy nowThis article was written by Zachary Shipman, a Financial Analyst at I Know First.

Stocks to Buy Now: STZ, HRB, And REGN

“Buy not on optimism, but on arithmetic.” Benjamin Graham – legendary investor and author of “The Intelligent Investor”.

Summary:

  • STZ product description and marketing strategy
  • HRB news and current trends
  • REGN technological advances could be assisted by an executive order
  • Market predictions and final thoughts

STZ Product Description & Marketing Strategy

Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE: STZ) is an international producer and marketer of beer, wine, and spirits with operations in the U.S., Mexico, New Zealand, Italy and Canada. STZ is the largest multi-category (beer, wine, spirits) provider in the United States, since they have more than 100 brands within their diverse portfolio. STZ is the third-largest beer company in the U.S. market and the world’s leading premium wine company. Many of their products are recognized as leaders in their respective categories. This, combined with STZ’s strong market positions, makes them a supplier of choice to many customers, who include wholesale distributors, retailers and on-premise locations.

stocks to buy now

(Source: The Street)

STZ’s overall strategy is to sustain profitable growth and build shareholder value. They have positioned their portfolio to benefit from industry trending towards premium quality products, which they believe will continue to result in faster growth rates in the high-end of the beer, wine and spirits categories. This strategy is calculated by monitoring key market trends within the alcoholic beverage industry. High-end beer (imported and craft) is growing faster than total beer and value priced beer. The same trend of premium quality beverages outperforming value-level beverages can also be seen throughout the wine and spirits sectors.

Their marketing strategy consists of focusing on their respective product categories, build brand equity and increase sales, their segments employ full-time, in-house marketing, sales and customer service functions. These functions engage in a range of marketing activities and strategies, including market research, consumer and trade advertising, price promotions, point-of-sale materials, event sponsorship, on-premise promotions and public relations. Where opportunities exist, particularly with national accounts in the U.S., they attempt to leverage their sales and marketing skills across the organization.

stocks to buy now

(Source: Google Finance – NYSE:STZ)

Pictured Above: Year to Date (2017) graph for STZ. 

STZ is currently trading at $193.82. They have posted a 52 week high of $197.41 and a 52 week low of $144. The stock has increased by +40.51 on a year to date time frame (up to June 10th, 2017), which translates to an improvement of 26.42%. STZ has a current market cap of $37.7 million USD. The latest quarter saw a quarterly revenue growth (year over year) of 3.40%. The company has a profit margin of 21.90% and total gross revenue of $7.4 billion USD.

Some of the most popular STZ owned products include: Corona Extra, Modelo Especial, Pacifico, Victoria, SVEDKA Vodka, Black Velvet Canadian Whiskey, Casa Noble tequila, and High West craft whiskeys. The beverage alcohol industry is highly competitive. They compete on the basis of quality, price, brand recognition and distribution strength. Their beverage alcohol products compete with other alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages for consumer purchases, as well as shelf space in retail stores, restaurant presence and wholesaler attention.

HRB News and Current Trends

H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE: HRB), through its subsidiaries, provides tax preparation and other services. The Company provides assisted income tax return preparation, digital do-it-yourself (DIY) tax solutions and other services and products related to income tax return preparation to the general public primarily in the United States, Canada, Australia and their respective territories. Assisted income tax return preparation and related services are provided by tax professionals through a system of retail offices operated directly by the Company or its franchisees. It offers tax support, planning, and business accounting and advisory services to its clients. The Company offers a range of online tax services, including preparation of federal and state income tax returns, review of tax returns by a tax professional, access to tax tips, advice and tax-related news, use of calculators for tax planning, error checking and electronic filing.

stocks to buy now

(Source: Downtown Peterborough)

HRB has been achieving some impressive results lately. For example, In late June, HRB achieved a one week price change of 15.5% compared to an industry average of 1.8%, HRB is certainly well-positioned in this regard. The stock is also looking proficient from a longer time frame too, as the four week price change compares favorably with the industry at large as well. And in the case of HRB, the results have been superb. The company has outperformed the industry at large over the past 12 weeks by a margin of 31.5% to -2.3% while it has also outperformed when looking at the past year, putting up a gain of 27.5%. This type of success should be monitored closely by investors.

stocks to buy now

(Source: Google Finance – NYSE: HRB)

Pictured above: 3 month graph (April 10th, 2017 – July 10th, 2017) for HRB. 

Over the past two months, four earnings estimates have gone higher compared to none lower for the full year. Additionally, we can also see that two estimates have moved upwards with no downward revision for the next year time frame. These revisions have helped to boost the consensus estimate as two months ago HRB was expected to post earnings of $1.77/share for the full year, though today it posted an expected earnings per share of $2.00 for the full year now. This estimate represents a solid increase, which is something that should definitely provide optimism for HRB investors.

REGN Technological Advances Could Be Assisted By An Executive Order

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company that discovers, invents, develops, manufactures and commercializes medicines for the treatment of serious medical conditions. The Company commercializes medicines for eye diseases, high low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and an inflammatory condition and have product candidates in development in other areas, including rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, atopic dermatitis, pain, cancer, and infectious diseases. The Company’s marketed products include EYLEA (aflibercept) Injection, Praluent (alirocumab) Injection, Kevzara (sarilumab) Solution for Subcutaneous Injection, ARCALYST (rilonacept) Injection for Subcutaneous Use and ZALTRAP (ziv-aflibercept) Injection for Intravenous Infusion.

As of December 31, 2016, the Company had 16 product candidates in clinical development, which consisted of a Trap-based clinical program and 15 fully human monoclonal antibody product candidates. For example, Dupixent is off to a strong launch in severe atopic dermatitis with U.S. adult sales of $951 million by 2023. Analysts remain highly confident the Phase III LIBERTY ASTHMA QUEST trial (N=1,858) will meet the primary endpoint of annualized exacerbation rate with 200mg or 300mg subcutaneous Dupixent q2W dosing this fall. Johanna Bennett, an analyst at Barron’s, projects peak U.S. adult asthma sales of $2.16 billion by 2025. These bullish estimates provide a fair amount of positivism for the future of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

stocks to buy now

(Source: Forbes)

Most recently Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:REGN) posted quarterly earnings of $2.16 which compared to the sell-side estimates of 2.67. The stock’s 12-month trailing earnings per share stands at $8.87. Shares have moved $2.18 over the past month and more recently, $-2.63 over the past week heading into the earnings announcement. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:REGN) closed the last session at $498.52 and sees an average of 1100912.13 shares trade hands in each session. The 52-week low of the stock stands at $336.01 while the current level stands at 84.24% of the 52-week High-Low range. Looking further out we can see that the stock has moved 34.03% over the past 3 months and 36.18% year to date.

stocks to buy now

(Source: Google Finance – NASDAQ:REGN)

Pictured Above: Year to Date (2017) graph for REGN.

Regeneron has benefited from an industry wide increase that boosted most BioTech stocks. BioTech funds and ETFs such as the SPDR S&P Biotech (ETF) (NYSEARCA: XBI) and the iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology Index (ETF) (NASDAQ: IBB) were up 2.5% and 2.1%, respectively, following optimism that President Trump’s drug pricing executive order would be industry friendly. It is difficult to predict President Trump’s next move, however this rumored executive order is encouraging for the drug industry. Previously, back in January, 2017, President Trump stated that the drug industry was “getting away with murder”. A reversal of this stance would be a desirable change for the BioTech industry as a whole, and more importantly a boon for Regeneron investors.

Market Predictions and Final Thoughts

stocks to buy now

I Know First remains bullish on STZ, identifying it as one of the stocks to buy now. STZ measures well from both a short-term and long-term viewpoint. It is by no surprise that STZ continues to perform admirably. They have targeted market trends throughout the alcoholic beverage industry and they have exploited those trends. The most recent trend is towards high-quality beverages. The company has adapted to that shift and plans to keep offering a large quantity of premium products worldwide. Incredible foresight has allowed STZ to position themselves at the top of an industry that is experiencing a transition period.

stocks to buy now

H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE: HRB) is a tax preparations company that continues to expand and trend positively. HRB has posted some impressive performances in comparison with their competitors. As stated in the article, the company has beaten out the industry at large over the past 3 months by a margin of 31.5% to -2.3% while it has also outperformed when looking at the past year, putting up a gain of 27.5%. The I Know First algorithm does not believe that this trend will reverse. HRB measures extremely well from a long-term point of view.

 

stocks to buy now

Over the past year, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN) is outperforming the S&P 500 by 24.78. The company has achieved this in an industry that is immersed by volatility and fierce competition. The I Know First algorithm suggests that REGN may not be a great short-term buy. However, the I Know First algorithm is extremely bullish on REGN as a long-term buy. This may be influenced by uncertainty within the market on the severity of regulations that will be administered by the White House. Hopefully, President Trump will pass an executive order that is beneficial to the BioTech industry. In this case, REGN is positioned well to surpass current industry expectations.

Past I Know First Success With REGN

I Know First has made accurate predictions on Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:REGN) in the past, such as its bullish prediction that was published on March 26th, 2017. In this prediction, the I Know First algorithm was able to mark a quick win. REGN was assigned a signal strength of 161.98 and a predictability factor of 0.52 for a 3 month period (March 26th, 2017 – June 26th, 2017). During that period, REGN shares rose 38.31% in line with the I Know First algorithm’s forecast. See chart below.

stocks to buy now

(Source: Google Finance – NASDAQ: REGN)

This bullish forecast for REGN was sent to I Know First subscribers on March 26th, 2017. To subscribe today click here.

I Know First Algorithm Heatmap Explanation

The sign of the signal tells in which direction the asset price is expected to go (positive = to go up = Long, negative = to drop = Short position), the signal strength is related to the magnitude of the expected return and is used for ranking purposes of the investment opportunities.

Predictability is the actual fitness function being optimized every day, and can be simplified explained as the correlation based quality measure of the signal. This is a unique indicator of the I Know First algorithm. This allows users to separate and focus on the most predictable assets according to the algorithm. Ranging between -1 and 1, one should focus on predictability levels significantly above 0 in order to fill confident about/trust the signal.

stocks to buy now


stocks to buy now