It has been a difficult week for the markets. The FTSE 100 has fallen by 1.7% as geopolitical tensions intensify in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. These trends have occurred even though the UK service sector PMI came in at an eight-month high in July, ahead of expectations. This week we explore whether these market conditions have created opportunities for investors hunting for quality, value and momentum.

QVM Movers:

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4imprint

4imprint (FOUR) is engaged in the manufacture, distribution and sale of promotional products. The company’s StockRank rose by 16 over the last week and is now 91. This jump has been supported by the MomentumRank, which stands at 96. 4imprint has indeed beaten the market by 11% over the last month and 26% over the last year. In part, this is a reaction to the company’s Half Year Report, which revealed that revenues and profits for the first half of 2014 were ‘ahead of expectations’. In response to this news, the brokers upgraded their consensus for 2014 EPS from 33.4p in July to 36.1p in August.

4imprint also has an excellent QualityRank (99). Revenues have grown each year, without fail, since 2010. The company’s Half Year Report notes that ‘Revenue in US dollars increased 23% over 2013’, while ‘North American promotional products market as a whole expanded by circa 7%, indicating that most of 4imprint's growth derives from market share gains in this highly fragmented market.’

This increase in profitability in reflected in 4imprint’s Piotroski score of 8. Indeed, 4imprint is improving across the board. 4imprint’s current ratio rose from 1.7 to 2.1 over the last 12 months, indicating that the company is better placed to service short-term debt. The company’s Asset Turnover also rose from 3.1 to 3.9, showing that 4imprint is more efficient at generating revenues. The high MomentumRank combines with the high QualityRank and the ValueRank (35) to give an overall StockRank in the top decile of the market.

JAs8BYgVnDEUg1QGJNDZmkKnxnAvYNiNtiWWczI5James Latham

James Latham (LTHM) is engaged in distribution of wood based sheet materials and joinery quality softwood and hardwood. The firm’s StockRank rose by 19 to 97 this week. The company has an overall QualityRank of 79. This is partly a…

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