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Quite a few top-rated Zacks stocks are near or at their 52-week highs and may be able to lead what is hopefully an end-of-the-year rally among the broader market.
Belonging to the Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) list here are three of these highly ranked stocks to consider as we get closer to rounding out 2023.
Royal Caribbean RCL: Starting with Royal Caribbean, the post-pandemic recovery of the popular cruise operator is reaching new heights going into 2024.
With annual earnings now expected to climb swing to $6.59 per share compared to an adjusted loss of -$7.50 a share in 2022 projections of 37% EPS growth next year suggest Royal Caribbean’s immense probability is back. To that point, FY24 EPS projections of $9.05 a share would only be 5% below pre-pandemic earnings of $9.54 a share in 2019.
As you can imagine, Royal Caribbean’s stock has soared and is now up +139% this year after hitting 52-week highs of $119 a share on Wednesday.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
JPMorgan Chase JPM: CEO Jamie Dimon’s wit stood out in today’s annual oversight meeting for the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Dimon appeared to have a lot of the right or rather correct responses to the Senate’s questions and there is strong reason to believe JPMorgan's stock may eclipse 52-week highs of $159 a share in July. Only 2% from its highs, JPM shares are up a very respectable +16% YTD and annual EPS estimates are nicely up over the last 60 days for fiscal 2023 and FY24.
JPMorgan’s stock also trades at a reasonable 9.3X forward earnings multiple and investors are collecting a generous 2.6% annual dividend yield.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
FirstCash FCFS: FirstCash Holdings is starting to give investors the steady growth they look for in the portfolio as an operator of pawn stores and a provider of technology-driven point-of-sale payment solutions.
FirstCash shares briefly hit 52-week highs of $115 in today’s trading session and another move higher looks likely with annual earnings forecasted to be up 13% this year and climb another 22% in FY24 to $7.15 a share. Fiscal 2024 projections would also represent 137% EPS growth over the last five years with earnings at $3.01 a share in 2020.
Plus, total sales are expected to expand 16% in FY23 and climb another 8% next year to $3.4 billion. In correlation with such expansive growth, FirstCash shares have risen +65% over the last three years and have soared +30% YTD while offering investors a 1.23% annual dividend yield at the moment.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research