Novartis saw its IBD SmartSelect Composite Rating jump to 96 Wednesday, up from 93 the day before. The new score indicates that shares of the company, which is No. 1 in its industry group, are now outperforming 96% of all stocks in terms of the most important fundamental and technical stock-picking criteria.
Winning stocks often have a 95 or higher grade in the early stages of a new price run, so that's a good starting point when looking for the best stocks to buy and watch.
Novartis stock is currently forming a cup with handle base, with a 112.98 buy point. Look for the stock to break out in volume at least 40% above average.
Discover The 3 Keys To Successful Stock Investing
The stock also sports an 89 EPS Rating, which means its recent quarterly and longer-term annual earnings growth is outpacing 89% of all stocks. Its Accumulation/Distribution Rating of A shows heavy buying by institutional investors, such as mutual funds and pension funds, over the last 13 weeks.
The company posted a 29% increase in earnings for Q4, to $1.29 per share. That marks two straight reports with rising EPS growth. Sales increased 15% year over year to $13.6 billion, up from 9% growth the prior quarter.
Novartis earns the No. 1 rank among its peers in the Medical-Ethical Drugs industry group. Phibro Animal Health and Jazz Pharmaceuticals are also among the group's highest-rated stocks.
This article was created automatically with Stats Perform's Wordsmith software using data and article templates supplied by Investor's Business Daily. An IBD journalist may have edited the article.
Please follow James DeTar on Twitter @JimDeTar
