Zacks.com featured highlights include The Walt Disney, Leidos, Raymond James Financial, Fortinet and The Hartford Financial Services

For Immediate ReleaseChicago, IL – December 31, 2024 – Stocks in this week’s article are The Walt Disney Company DIS, Leidos Holdings, Inc. LDOS, Raymond James Financial, Inc. RJF, Fortinet, Inc. (FTNT) and The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. HIG.5 High ROE Stocks to Buy With Markets Likely to Wrap Up on a HighThe broader U.S. equity markets have witnessed significant volatility over the past few trading days as concerns regarding the Federal Reserve’s interest rate cuts took center stage amid stubborn inflation. However, a solid Christmas Eve performance – the best since 1974 – helped negate the earlier losses for a positive holiday week, primarily led by gains by blue-chip firms. Investors await a “Santa Claus” rally to end the year on a high, with the markets navigating unusual market dynamics.As investors employ a wait-and-see approach in a classic example of “backing and filling” in the market, they can benefit from “cash cow” stocks that garner higher returns. However, identifying cash-rich stocks alone does not make for a solid investment proposition unless it is backed by attractive efficiency ratios like return on equity (ROE). A high ROE ensures that the company is reinvesting cash at a high rate of return. The Walt Disney Company, Leidos Holdings, Inc., Raymond James Financial, Inc., Fortinet, Inc. and The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. are some of the stocks with high ROE to profit from.ROE: A Key MetricROE = Net Income/Shareholders’ EquityROE helps investors distinguish profit-generating companies from profit burners and is useful in determining the financial health of a company. In other words, this financial metric enables investors to identify companies that diligently deploy cash for higher returns.Moreover, ROE is often used to compare the profitability of a company with other firms in the industry — the higher, the better. It measures how well a company is multiplying its profits without investing new equity capital and portrays management’s efficiency in rewarding shareholders with attractive risk-adjusted returns.Here are five of the seven stocks that qualified the screening:Walt Disney: Burbank, CA-based Walt Disney has assets that span movies, television shows and theme parks. This leading diversified international family entertainment and media enterprise operates through three business segments — Entertainment, Sports and Experiences.The company has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 10.3% and delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 13.6%, on average. It has a VGM Score of A. Walt Disney carries a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Leidos: Delaware-based Leidos is a global science and technology leader serving the defense, intelligence, civil and health markets. Its core capabilities include providing solutions in cybersecurity, data analytics, enterprise IT modernization, operations and logistics, sensors, collection and phenomenology, software development and systems engineering.The company has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 14.8% and delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 29.9%, on average. It has a VGM Score of A. Leidos sports a Zacks Rank #1. Raymond James: Based in St. Petersburg, FL, Raymond James is a diversified company providing financial services mainly in the United States and Canada. The company has approximately 8,800 financial advisors with total client assets of $1.54 trillion.It has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 16.3% and delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 7.8%, on average. Raymond James carries a Zacks Rank #2.Fortinet: Headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA, Fortinet is a provider of network security appliances and Unified Threat Management network security solutions to enterprises, service providers and government entities worldwide. Its solutions are designed to integrate multiple levels of security protection, including firewall, virtual private networking, antivirus, intrusion prevention, web filtering, anti-spam and wide area network acceleration.The company has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 18.3% and delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 23.6%, on average. Fortinet sports a Zacks Rank #1.Hartford Financial: Headquartered in Hartford, CT, Hartford Financial is one of the major multi-line insurance and investment companies in the country. It provides investment products, group life and group disability insurance, property and casualty insurance and mutual funds in the United States.The company has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 12.1% and delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 9.1%, on average. It has a VGM Score of B. Hartford Financial carries a Zacks Rank #2.You can get the rest of the stocks on this list by signing up now for your 2-week free trial to the Research Wizard and start using this screen in your own trading. Further, you can also create your own strategies and test them first before taking the investment plunge.  The Research Wizard is a great place to begin. It's easy to use. Everything is in plain language. And it's very intuitive. Start your Research Wizard trial today. And the next time you read an economic report, open up the Research Wizard, plug your finds in, and see what gems come out.Click here to sign up for a free trial to the Research Wizard today.Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.Disclosure: Performance information for Zacks’ portfolios and strategies are available at: https://www.zacks.com/performance.Why Haven't You Looked at Zacks' Top Stocks?Since 2000, our top stock-picking strategies have blown away the S&P's +7.0 average gain per year. Amazingly, they soared with average gains of +44.9%, +48.4% and +55.2% per year.Today you can access their live picks without cost or obligation.See Stocks Free >>For the rest of this Screen of the Week article please visit Zacks.com at: https://www.zacks.com/stock/news/2389527/5-high-roe-stocks-to-buy-with-markets-likely-to-wrap-up-on-a-highZacks Investment Research is under common control with affiliated entities (including a broker-dealer and an investment adviser), which may engage in transactions involving the foregoing securities for the clients of such affiliates.Contact: Jim GiaquintoCompany: Zacks.comPhone: 312-265-9268Email: pr@zacks.comVisit: https://www.zacks.com/Zacks.com provides investment resources and informs you of these resources, which you may choose to use in making your own investment decisions. Zacks is providing information on this resource to you subject to the Zacks "Terms and Conditions of Service" disclaimer. www.zacks.com/disclaimer.Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.Only $1 to See All Zacks' Buys and SellsWe're not kidding.Several years ago, we shocked our members by offering them 30-day access to all our picks for the total sum of only $1. No obligation to spend another cent.Thousands have taken advantage of this opportunity. Thousands did not - they thought there must be a catch. Yes, we do have a reason. We want you to get acquainted with our portfolio services like Surprise Trader, Stocks Under $10, Technology Innovators,and more, that closed 228 positions with double- and triple-digit gains in 2023 alone.See Stocks Now >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (HIG): Free Stock Analysis Report The Walt Disney Company (DIS): Free Stock Analysis Report Raymond James Financial, Inc. (RJF): Free Stock Analysis Report Leidos Holdings, Inc. (LDOS): Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks