4 Toxic Stocks To Dump Or Sell Short To Avoid Losses
Zacks Investment Research | Jun 02, 2019 09:10PM ET
Accurate identification of correctly-priced stocks is the key to successful investing. However, in reality, overpriced toxic stocks and rightly-priced stocks are mixed in such a manner that it is tough to distinguish between the two.
Generally overhyped toxic stocks are vulnerable to outside shocks. Moreover, these stocks are burdened with a high level of debt. The price of these stocks is artificially inflated. Nonetheless, the higher price of toxic stocks is only temporary in nature as it is higher than its intrinsic value.
Investors are likely to benefit from precise identification of toxic stocks with the help of an investing strategy called short selling. This strategy allows investors to sell a stock first and then buy it when price falls.
While short selling excels in bear markets, it typically loses money in bull markets.
So, accurately identifying toxic stocks and discarding or short selling those at the right time is the key to protect your portfolio from big losses.
Screening Criteria
Here is a winning strategy that will help you to identify overpriced toxic stocks:
Most recent Debt/Equity Ratio greater than the median industry average: High debt/equity ratio implies high leverage. High leverage indicates a huge level of repayment that the company has to make in connection with the debt amount.
P/E using 12-month forward EPS estimate greater than 50: A very high forward P/E implies that a stock is highly overvalued.
% Change in F (1) and F (2) Estimate (12 Weeks) less than 0: Negative EPS estimate revision for this and the next fiscal year during the past 12 weeks points to analysts’ pessimism.
Zacks Rank more than or equal to #3 (Hold): We have not considered Buy-rated stocks that generally outperform the market.
Here are four of the 26 toxic stocks that showed up on the screen:
Vancouver, Canada-based First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) is engaged in the production, development, exploration, and acquisition of silver mines in Mexico. Over the past seven days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-quarter earnings per share has remained unchanged at 1 cent. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #3. You can see Zacks Investment Research
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