Since inception in 1988, the S&P 500 has outperformed the Zacks #5 Rank List – Stocks to Sell Now by 80% annually (+2% versus +10%). While the rest of Wall Street continued to tout stocks during the market declines of the last few years, Zacks told investors which stocks to sell or avoid.
Here is a synopsis of why RBA and MOD have a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell) and should most likely be sold or avoided for the next one to three months. Note that a #5 Strong Sell rating is applied to 5% of all the stocks in the Zacks Rank universe:
Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers (RBA) announced first-quarter earnings of 12 cents per share last month, falling nearly 8% short of the average forecast. Year over year earnings dropped 37%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year decreased 3 cents to 80 cents per share over the past couple of months. Next year’s forecast fell a penny to 96 cents per share in the last 30 days.
Modine Manufacturing Co. (MOD) posted a fourth-quarter loss of 23 cents per share on June 3, which was 15 cents wider than analysts’ expectations. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2011 widened by a penny to a loss of 7 cents per share in the last week. The average forecast stood at a profit of 20 cents per share a month ago. For the current quarter, analysts now expect a loss of 8 cents per share, 6 cents worse than last month’s projection.
Here is a synopsis of why BKH and GFI have a Zacks Rank of 4 (Sell) and should also most likely be sold or avoided for the next one to three months. Note that a #4 Sell rating is applied to 15% of all the stocks ranked by Zacks;
Black Hills Corp’s (BKH) first-quarter earnings of 81 cents per share, announced on May 6, missed analysts? projections by a couple of cents. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2010 moved down by a penny to $1.87 per share over the past week. During that time, next year’s forecast slipped 4 cents to $1.96 per share as one analyst out of 5 revised downwards.
Gold Fields Ltd. (GFI) reported third-quarter earnings of 6 cents per share, lagging analysts’ expectations by 70%. In the prior-year quarter, the company earned 21 cents per share. For 2010, the Zacks Consensus Estimate fell 5 cents to 61 cents per share in the last month as 2 analysts out of 4 reduced forecasts. Estimate for the current quarter moved down 3 cents to 22 cents per share in the same period.
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