Growth investors focus on stocks that are seeing above-average financial growth, as this feature helps these securities garner the market's attention and deliver solid returns. But finding a great growth stock is not easy at all.
That's because, these stocks usually carry above-average risk and volatility. In fact, betting on a stock for which the growth story is actually over or nearing its end could lead to significant loss.
However, the task of finding cutting-edge growth stocks is made easy with the help of the Zacks Growth Style Score (part of the Zacks Style Scores system), which looks beyond the traditional growth attributes to analyze a company's real growth prospects.
Our proprietary system currently recommends Brinker International (EAT) as one such stock. This company not only has a favorable Growth Score, but also carries a top Zacks Rank.
Studies have shown that stocks with the best growth features consistently outperform the market. And returns are even better for stocks that possess the combination of a Growth Score of A or B and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy).
Here are three of the most important factors that make the stock of this operator of restaurant chains Chili's Grill & Bar and Maggiano's Little Italy a great growth pick right now.
Earnings growth is arguably the most important factor, as stocks exhibiting exceptionally surging profit levels tend to attract the attention of most investors. For growth investors, double-digit earnings growth is highly preferable, as it is often perceived as an indication of strong prospects (and stock price gains) for the company under consideration.
While the historical EPS growth rate for Brinker International is 25.6%, investors should actually focus on the projected growth. The company's EPS is expected to grow 103.3% this year, crushing the industry average, which calls for EPS growth of 7%.
Asset utilization ratio -- also known as sales-to-total-assets (S/TA) ratio -- is often overlooked by investors, but it is an important indicator in growth investing. This metric exhibits how efficiently a firm is utilizing its assets to generate sales.
Right now, Brinker International has an S/TA ratio of 1.9, which means that the company gets $1.9 in sales for each dollar in assets. Comparing this to the industry average of 0.97, it can be said that the company is more efficient.
In addition to efficiency in generating sales, sales growth plays an important role. And Brinker International looks attractive from a sales growth perspective as well. The company's sales are expected to grow 17.2% this year versus the industry average of 3.9%.
Beyond the metrics outlined above, investors should consider the trend in earnings estimate revisions. A positive trend is a plus here. Empirical research shows that there is a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements.
There have been upward revisions in current-year earnings estimates for Brinker International. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has surged 0.4% over the past month.
While the overall earnings estimate revisions have made Brinker International a Zacks Rank #1 stock, it has earned itself a Growth Score of A based on a number of factors, including the ones discussed above.
You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
This combination indicates that Brinker International is a potential outperformer and a solid choice for growth investors.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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