On Wednesday, shares of insurer Willis Towers Watson continued to soar on strong fourth quarter earnings. On Tuesday Willis Towers stock popped 7.2% as it reported its strongest profit gain in a year. Wednesday midday it was on track for its fifth higher close, and up 11% in the last five trading session.
Willis Towers stock hit an important technical benchmark Wednesday, with its Relative Strength (RS) Rating entering into the 80-plus percentile with an upgrade to 80, up from 67 the day before.
Willis Towers Stock Joins Select Group
The 80 RS Rating shows that Willis Towers stock topped 80% of stocks for price appreciation over the last 52 weeks. Stocks that go on to make the biggest gains tend to have an RS Rating north of 80 in the early stages of their moves.
Watchlist candidate Willis Towers Watson brokers insurance and reinsurance plans primarily for companies in aerospace, marine and energy industries worldwide. It's not alone among insurers that are excelling. Virginia-based Kinsale Capital was Tuesday's IBD Stock Of The Day.
Among its other ratings, UK-based Willis Towers has a strong 87 Composite Rating out of a best-possible 99. It also carries a respectable 86 Earnings Per Share Rating.
Where it really shines though is in the interest shown in its stock by big investment firms like mutual funds and ETFs. Willis Towers stock has an A- Accumulation/Distribution Rating on an A+ to E scale with A+ best. The A- rating shows that big money investors are fairly heavy buyers, a bullish indicator.
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Willis Towers stock is still within a buy zone after climbing above a 258.93 entry in a consolidation on Tuesday. It's risen nearly 40% from a mid-August intraday low at 195.29.
Profits Jumped Last Quarter; Can It Continue?
On Tuesday the company reported that Q4 earnings climbed 18% to a beefy $7.44 per share. It was a sharp upturn after its reports of 7% -12% and 2% EPS the prior three stanzas. Revenue rose 7% to $2.91 billion for the most recent quarter.
Willis Towers Watson holds the No. 3 rank among its peers in the 15-stock Insurance-Brokers industry group. Brown & Brown is No. 2 and Erie Indemnity is No. 1 among the group's highest-rated stocks.
When looking for the best stocks to buy and watch, one factor to watch closely is relative price strength. IBD's Relative Strength Rating identifies market leadership by using a 1 (worst) to 99 (best) score that shows how a stock's price performance over the trailing 52 weeks matches up against that of all other stocks.
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