Credit card giant Visa is among the top-rated growth stocks. On Thursday, its position inched even higher as its IBD SmartSelect Composite Rating climbed to a near-best 96, up from 94. The raised score means Visa stock is now outperforming 96% of all stocks on the most important fundamental and technical stock-picking criteria.
Market research shows the top market performers tend to have a 95 or higher Composite Rating score as they launch their biggest moves.
Visa Stock Topped 50-Day Line Thursday
Visa stock trades above its 200-day line and on Thursday it rose above its 50-day line but closed below it, at 222.59, up about 1.2% for the day. It dropped to a 174.60 low in mid-October and has risen about 27% in five months. It hasn't formed a clear pattern with a buy point yet. Look for Visa stock to form and break out of a new base.
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Among its other key ratings San Francisco-based Visa boasts a 92 Earnings Per Share Rating, out of 99, putting it in the top 8% of companies for recent and long-term profit growth. Visa stock has a good but not yet great 86 Relative Strength Rating. It also carries a strong B Accumulation/Distribution Rating on an A+ to E scale, with A+ excellent and E dismal. The B rating shows moderately heavy buying by institutional investors like mutual funds. The number of mutual funds holding Visa shares rose to 6,165 in December, up from 6,027 in September, a bullish indicator.
Sales, Profit Growth Strong
The company reported a 20% gain in earnings for Q1, to $2.18 per share. Top line growth came in at 12%, to $7.94 billion. Visa has reported double-digit profit and sales growth every quarter this past year, although the growth rate slowed a bit.
Visa stock earns the No. 3 rank among its peers in the Finance-Card/Payment Processing industry group. Fintech Shift4, which provides a variety of payment processing solutions, is the top-ranked stock in the group. Visa archrival Mastercard ranks No. 6 in the group
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