2009-05-14 12:54:03 -

Earnings are the single most important metric for a company. Combine that with a healthy Net Profit Margin and you find a screen that has generated a cumulative return of +623.7% since January 2001. For 2006, this Profit Track has returned 23.4%. For the first month of 2007, this Profit Track returned 4.0%. This screen is called the Earnings and

Margins Profit Track strategy. Here are four stocks meeting this screen’s exclusive criteria: BWAY Holding Company (NYSE: BWY : ), Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ: PEGA : ), Service Corp. International (NYSE: SCI : ) and Geo Group Inc. (NYSE: GEO : ).

View the entire list of stocks for the Earnings and Margins Profit Track at at.zacks.com/?id=1858 :

Here are four companies that meet the following Earnings and Margins Profit Track.



BWAY Holding Company (NYSE: BWY : ) reported a 53.85% surprise in second-quarter earnings with 40 cents per share, compared to a loss of 10 cents in the preceding quarter. This Zacks #1 Rank company makes the grade for this profit track with a growth rate of 102.86% and an average broker recommendation of 1. BWY is a leading North American manufacturer of general line rigid metal and plastic containers.


Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ: PEGA : ), a leading provider of Customer Relationship Management software, reported solid first-quarter earnings of 23 cents per share, which exceeded analysts’ expectations of 12 cents. The Zacks #1 Rank company is currently enjoying an average broker rating of 1 and a growth rate of 61.11%, which place it on the Earnings and Margins profit track. The company also sports a net margin of 5%.


Service Corp. International (NYSE: SCI : ) announced first-quarter earnings of 12 cents per share on May 7, delivering an EPS surprise of 33.33%. The Zacks #2 Rank company enjoys a net margin of 5%, indicating that it is a solid company with good earnings. Moreover, it sports an average broker rating of 1. SCI is the largest provider of funeral and cemetery services in the world.


Geo Group Inc. (NYSE: GEO : ) announced first-quarter earnings of 31 cents per share, beating analysts’ expectations of 29 cents. GEO currently enjoys a net profit margin of 6% and a Zacks #2 Rank, which qualifies for the Earnings and Margins profit track. In addition, GEO sports an average broker recommendation of 1. GEO is a world leader in the delivery of correctional and detention management, health, and other diversified services to government agencies around the globe.

Discover all the current stocks currently on the Earnings and Margin Profit Track at: at.zacks.com/?id=1859 :



About Profit Tracks



What is a "Profit Track"? Each Profit Track is a successful stock picking strategy with proven results through the Bear Market of 2001-2002 and the Bull run started in 2003. On Zacks.com we have created these nine unique screens to offer investors great strategies to potentially outperform the market in the years ahead. In 2006, the Low Price Stocks strategy was the top performing Profit Track with a return of +56.5% followed by the Discounted Fundamental screen with a +34% return. To see all nine strategies along with philosophy, past performance and current stocks, go to at.zacks.com/?id=1838 : .

All the Profit Track strategies were created and backtested using the Research Wizard software from Zacks Investment Research. If you like this screening strategy, but want to narrow down the list of stocks and even improve the performance, then you should start a free trial to this powerful stock picking tool. Learn more about the Research Wizard free trial offer and our new special report “Top 10 Stock Screening Strategies” at at.zacks.com/?id=4633 :



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Visit www.zacks.com/performance : for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

Disclaimer: Past performance does not guarantee future results.

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