Analysts are divided on whether market falls of recent weeks represent a mere blip or more significant correction for equities but no-one can argue that the past month has been unkind to stocks.
For those of us with an eye on the blistering performance of momentum strategies during the early part of this year, the universe of stocks has got a hell of a lot smaller. Indeed, by shedding 300 points since mid-March, the FTSE 100 has been on a dire run of the like not seen since last June.
But it’s not all bad news. For investors on the hunt for companies that are able to resist the vagaries of the market, there are ways of finding them. Using Stockopedia Premium's custom stock screener, its easy to root out stocks that have so far resisted the current market movements and with positive indicators that could make them worthy of further inspection.
A typical set of criteria to highlight strong growers showing price resilience might include:
- Relative Strength over 1 month > 4%
- Relative strength over 6 months > 0
- Market Cap £m > 20m
- EPS Growth % > 10%
- EPS 3y CAGR > 10%
- Forward EPS Growth % > 10%
- Forward P/E < 23
Shaken not stirred
Of the 29 stocks that meet these criteria by far the largest is drinks giant Diageo (LON:DGE) whose shares have been on a strong run since last summer and already qualifies for our 52 Week High Momentum Screen. The company delivered a robust set of half-year results in February, with growth across many of its major brands, including Johnnie Walker scotch, Smirnoff vodka and Guinness. Overall, its efforts to expand in emerging markets have offset more challenging conditions in the UK and Europe. On that front, a move to buy Mexican tequila maker Jose Cuervo is believed to be in the pipeline. Diageo’s share price performance was given a boost recently with an upgrade from UBS, which reiterated its “buy” recommendation and increased its target price from 1,600p to 1,700p.
Among the smallest companies on the list is £38m AIM quoted market research specialist Brainjuicer (LON:BJU), which has so far shown little sign of being dragged down by the market over the past month. The company has grown every year…
