Friday, May 18, 2018
With a highly anticipated royal wedding on the docket for this weekend — if you’ve been living under a rock, Prince Harry will be wed to American actress and humanitarian activist Meghan Markle Saturday, mid-day in England and very early in the a.m. U.S. time — we thought it might be worthwhile to take a peek at the performance of British-oriented stocks.
This is hardly the only article featuring such equities, by the way, even here at Zacks.com. We published a separate study of top-rated British companies earlier this week here: Royal Wedding, Record Job Growth Aid U.K. Economy: 5 Picks
Integrated oil super-major BP Inc. BPis clearly not feeling any negative effects from Brexit activity; Brent crude oil prices recently having hit $80 per barrel are assisting this Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) company, with its Zacks Style Score (Value - Growth - Momentum) of A. Its neighbors in the sector are also doing well overall — BP sits in the top 13% of Zacks Industry Rank and top 25% in Sector Rank.
Shares are down slightly in today’s pre-market, but have been steadily climbing back from the fall in oil prices a few years back. That said, BP shares are still off their multi-year highs experienced just prior to the company’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which was raging at this time 8 years ago. But BP stock is up a couple dollars per share over the past month.
Big Pharma company AstraZeneca AZNalso boasts a Zacks Style Score of A, with a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). However, it resides in a sector within the bottom 31% on the Zacks scale. The company is well diversified, but did suffer a setback recently with its asthma treatment Fasenra having failed a COPD study. Shares are down a bit ahead of the opening bell today, but continue to trade in a range just beneath its all-time highs hit just a few years ago.
County Kent’s own Delphi Automotive APTV, an auto tech specialty company featuring solutions in auto emissions and fuel economy, currently holds a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). However, its Style Score is D, on relatively lagging Growth and Momentum. But it proudly hails at all-time market highs, even if it closed slightly lower than yesterday’s record high $98.50 per share (U.S.).
Mark Vickery
Senior Editor
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