The commercial banking, aerospace and defense, life science, biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors are rising to the top this week on the Portfolio Grader database.
The commercial banking sector’s track record is proving one of the best with 100% of its stocks (5 out of 5) rating a “buy”. StellarOne Corporation (STEL) and Citizens Republic Bancorp (CRBC) are lifting the sector overall, each earning a high score of B. Pacific Capital Bancorp (PCBC) currently ranks A.
With 74% of the sector’s stocks (31 out of 42) rating a “buy,” the aerospace and defense sector is one of the strongest. Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (HII), Alliant Techsystem (ATK) and TASER International, Inc. (TASR) are lifting the sector overall, each earning a high grade of A. Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. beats the other stocks in its sector, with a 229% increase from a year ago.
Life science is excelling, with 71% of stocks in the sector (17 out of 24) rating a “buy”. Wuxi PharmaTech (Cayman) Inc. Sponsored ADR (WX), Covance (CVD) and Illumina, Inc. (ILMN) are paving the way for the sector with A grades. Wuxi PharmaTech (Cayman) Inc. Sponsored ADR is performing the best overall in the sector, with a 211.9% increase from 12 months ago.
The biotechnology sector is thriving on Portfolio Grader this week, with 71% of its stocks (70 out of 99) currently rating a “buy”. Gentium S.p.A. Sponsored ADR (GENT), Repligen Corporation (RGEN) and Insys Therapeutics, Inc. (INSY) are all currently earning A’s. The best performer in this sector is Repligen Corporation, which saw its price rise 563.2% in the last 12 months.
Pharmaceutical stands out with 67% of the sector’s stocks (41 out of 61) rating a “buy”. Among pharmaceutical stocks, Lannett Company, Inc. (LCI), Questcor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (QCOR) and Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. (SLXP) are leading the way with A’s. Showing the most overall growth in its sector in the last 12 months, Lannett Company, Inc. is the top stock, with a 49.2% increase.
Louis Navellier’s proprietary Portfolio Grader stock ranking system assesses roughly 5,000 companies every week based on a number of fundamental and quantitative measures. Stocks are given a letter grade based on their results — with A being “strong buy,” and F being “strong sell.” Explore the tool here.
