The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Apple, Harmony Gold, NRG, Ryman Hospitality And Dr. Reddy's

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL –September 4, 2019 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) , Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited (NYSE:HMY) , NRG Energy Inc. (NYSE:NRG) , Ryman Hospitality Properties Inc. (NYSE:RHP) and Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd. (NYSE:RDY) .

Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:

Top Stories of August Worth Watching in September

Wall Street saw a wild August with the S&P 500 posting 11 moves of more than 1% in 22 trading sessions of the month. Those moves included three declines of at least 2.6% as well as the index’s worst day of the year on Aug 5, per CNBC. The large swings were mainly triggered by escalation in trade tensions and a recession warning by the bond market. Additionally, weak global economic data, low inflation and political unrest in Hong Kong added to the chaos.

Below we discuss some of the events that dominated the headlines in August and will be worth watching this month:

Trade Drama

Trade continued to play foul in the stock market as both the United States and China put in place their latest tariff increases on each other’s goods effective Sep 1. The Trump administration raised tariffs from 10% to 15% on $112 billion worth of Chinese goods including footwear, apparel and Apple Watches, while China imposed retaliatory tariffs hike on some of American goods, including pork, beef, chicken and agricultural goods, on its $75 billion target list.

Trump plans to levy duties on further $160 billion in Chinese products such as laptops and cellphones in mid-December. China plans to ramp up tariffs on soybeans to 30% from 25% in mid-December.

Though the trade representatives from the world's two biggest economies are expected to resume talks this month, tariff hike will hurt U.S. consumers, pushing up the prices of goods and thereby curtailing spending. It will further impact worldwide economy and corporate profits, particularly at big U.S. exporters. As such, investors are rushing to a flight to safety in gold, which often acts as safe haven, benefiting gold-mining companies.

Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited, with a Zacks Rank #2 and VGM Score of A, emerged as the winner in August, gaining about 41%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal year (ending June 2020) has moved up from 41 cents to 47 cents over the past three months. The company has an estimated earnings growth rate of 235.71%.

Fed Action

The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 25 bps to 2-2.5% in its latest policy meeting ended Jul 31 for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis. It also said that the move is a “midcycle adjustment” and not the start of a lengthy series of rate cuts. However, additional cuts seem to be in the cards this month given the rising trade spat, recessionary fears and bouts of downbeat economic data that is cooling global economic growth.

If the Fed cuts rate further, high-dividend-yield sectors such as utilities and real estate continued to be the winners given their sensitivity to interest rates. Some of the top-ranked stocks from these spaces include NRG Energy Inc. and Ryman Hospitality Properties Inc. These stocks have a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy), suggesting their outperformance in the months ahead. Further, these stocks are expected to generate solid earnings growth this year (NRG – 67.6%, OKE – 11.5%, CIO – 14% and RHP – 15.9%). You can see Original post

Get The News You Want

Read market moving news with a personalized feed of stocks you care about.

Get The App

Written By: Zacks Investment Research