2 Large-Cap Stocks With BIG Catalysts
Last week was another choppy one for the market. Technology remained under pressure, while leadership continued to shift around beneath the surface.
In an environment like that, there’s something to be said for companies with scale. Large, established businesses tend to have deeper resources, more diversified operations, and a longer track record investors can actually evaluate.
That doesn’t mean every large-cap stock deserves a place in your portfolio. Plenty suffer from sluggish growth, stretched valuations, or deteriorating fundamentals.
The challenge is finding the ones that pair scale and stability with strong underlying fundamentals.
Fortunately, there’s a way to make that process a lot easier…
Large Caps Stock Strategy
Our proprietary quant system evaluates 4,600 stocks on a daily basis, and grades them through the lens of 115 metrics, split across 7 categories. That data is distilled down into an intuitive, easy-to-use metric. That’s a stock’s Zen Rating.
Our highest grade, a Zen Rating of A, is equivalent to a Strong Buy recommendation, and is only awarded to the stocks that rank in the top 5% on overall fundamental strength. A bit of quick math tells us that 5% of 4,600 is 230 … And while that is a good start, that is still plenty of tickers for you to consider on any given day.
That’s not where the story ends, however. You can speed things along by taking a look at one of our exclusive Zen Strategies.
Each strategy is a portfolio that consists of just 7 stocks, hand-picked to deliver market-beating returns. There are 11 portfolios in total — today, we’ll be taking a look at a Strategy that has delivered a 31.45% return since the start of the year, compared to just 11.16% for the S&P 500.
Recent performance has been strong, too. Within the last month, the portfolio has returned 3.22%, while the S&P has declined by 0.78% in the same timeframe.
This week, the spotlight is on our Large Caps Stock Strategy.
Without further ado, let’s take a closer look at 2 interesting tickers from the portfolio…
Target (TGT)
Target is one of the largest general merchandise retailers in the U.S., selling everything from groceries and apparel to home goods, electronics, and everyday essentials. TGT currently ranks in the top 2% of all the stocks we track, giving it a Zen Rating of A … It’s also the top-rated stock in the A-rated Discount Store industry.
The Component Grades are impressively consistent. Value ranks in the top 14%, followed by Growth and Momentum in the top 13%. Financials come in a touch better, in the top 9%, while Artificial Intelligence and Sentiment both rank in the top 7% of everything we track. Safety is the lone weak spot, landing in the bottom 12%, but every other Component Grade earns a B.
Target earned $4.11 per share in Q2 against an estimate of $2.35, marking its fourth consecutive earnings beat. Digital sales also continued to grow, with same-day delivery standing out as an especially strong part of the quarter.
Valero Energy (VLO)
Valero Energy is one of the world’s largest independent refiners, turning crude oil into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and other transportation fuels. VLO currently ranks in the top 1% of everything we track, giving it a Zen Rating of A … and it’s also the 7th highest-rated stock in the A-rated Oil & Gas Refining & Marketing industry.
(It’s also a stock we recently profiled on our weekly no-cost webinar.)
VLO puts together an exceptionally strong collection of Component Grades. Safety ranks in the top 23% of the stocks we track, followed by Financials at the top 3%. From there, we have an exceptionally strong cluster … With a top 1% placement for Growth, Momentum, and Artificial Intelligence.
And even the weaker parts of the profile, in this case, Value and Sentiment rank in the top 26% and top 28%, respectively … Both still comfortably above average.
The latest quarterly report saw Valero deliver EPS of $23.90 against an estimate of $21.16, marking its 5th consecutive earnings beat. The underlying refining business was exceptionally strong as well. Adjusted refining operating income reached $8.8 billion, up from $1.7 billion a year earlier, while refining margin per barrel nearly tripled.
Interested In More Great Stock Picks?
The 2 stocks highlighted above are just a fraction of what you get from our proven Large Caps Stock Strategy.
That’s because each day our system recalibrates — and Zen Strategies members get access to the top 7 large-cap stocks based on 115 different parameters that point to outperformance.
See all Top 7 Large-Cap Stocks here >
However, maybe none of the stocks you’ve seen here have caught your eye. Perhaps you would like to see all 11 of our market-beating strategies including Growth, Momentum, Value, and our coveted AI Factor model.
Each featuring the top 7 stocks.
Each featuring tremendous performance.
We spell it all out in this timely presentation below that lives up to its name:
What to Do Next?
Want to get in touch? Email us at news@wallstreetzen.com.
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