As I navigate through the second half of August, I’m realizing more and more that it’s time to be very cautious. There is still a lot of risk, historical underperformance and low trading volume. Just last week, the market experienced an uptick in volatility due to currency issues in China and plummeting oil prices.
This doesn’t mean that it’s time to pull out of the market completely; it’s just time to mitigate risks by looking into fundamentally strong and up-trending stocks. So, while the risks are higher than usual, there are still ample profit-making opportunities. That’s why I’m excited to share with you a financial-sector gem that I’ve been monitoring.
Investors Bancorp, Inc. (ISBC) is a bank holding company for Investors Bank that provides a variety of bank services and products to businesses and individuals in the United States. The stock has been holding steady above its 200-day moving average for nearly eight months.
What’s most impressive about ISBC is how both its Demand Fundamentals and Technicals remain strong despite the current mixed market. Right now, Turner Analytics gives ISBC a 73 out of 100 score for its fundamentals and a 97 out of 100 for its technical score. Meanwhile, the stock has been in a bullish trend along with its industry (Savings and Loans) for nearly eight months and is outperforming its sector (Financials).
Institutional ownership has been steady, at nearly 75% of all outstanding shares. The shares’ volatility rating is also very low, at 3.3%, or $0.41. And the stock has rallied about 18% in the past 52 weeks. So, clearly, ISBC is showing little or no sign of weakening in this very weak market.
That’s why I recommend entering ISBC at $12.20 or better and setting your stop at $11.65, as well as a near-term target of $12.69.
Mike Turner and his team of software engineers developed Turner Analytics, a sophisticated software market and trade-timing system that provides unbiased, quantifiable recommendations on thousands of equities and rates, ranks and scores these equities from best to worst in an easy-to-use on-line tool for individual investors. He is also the editor of Signal Investor.
Most recently, Mike launched Quick Hit Trader. This trading service is based on weekly analysis of the 6,000+ stocks and ETFs in his proprietary Turner Analytics computer stock-rating system. Every Monday before the market open, Mike emails subscribers his three best trades for the week, including the buy, sell and target price.
