Zacks.com featured highlights include Meridian Bioscience, Innoviva, OP Bancorp and United Fire Group

Zacks.com featured highlights include Meridian Bioscience, Innoviva, OP Bancorp and United Fire Group

Zacks Equity Research
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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – April 7, 2022 – Stocks in this week’s article are Meridian Bioscience, Inc. VIVO, Innoviva, Inc. INVA, OP Bancorp OPBK and United Fire Group Inc. UFCS.

Bet on These 4 Low-Beta Stocks to Combat Market Volatility

Over the past three weeks, the stock market has rallied following the approvals from the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates for the first time in more than three years. The rate hike pleased investors since the measure will curb inflation. However, Russia's violent and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine has caused uncertainty.

Thus, the U.S. market will possibly be choppy in the near term. Hence, creating a portfolio of low-beta stocks is of utmost importance since the securities will deliver healthy returns and provide a shield against volatile market conditions.

Beta Understanding

Beta measures the volatility or risk of a particular asset compared to the market. In other words, beta measures the extent of a security's price movement relative to the market. In this article, we are considering the S&P 500 as the market.

If a stock has a beta of 1, then the price of the stock will move with the market. So, the stock is more volatile than the market if its beta is more than 1. In the same way, the stock is not as volatile as the market if its beta is less than 1.

For example, if the market offers a return of 20%, a stock with a beta of 3 will return 60%, which is overwhelming. Similarly, when the market slips 20%, the stock will sink 60%, which is devastating.

Here are four stocks among six that qualified the screening:

Meridian Bioscience, Inc.,  headquartered in Cincinnati, OH, primarily manufactures diagnostic test kits for gastrointestinal and respiratory infectious diseases.

For fiscal 2022 earnings per share (EPS), Meridian Bioscience has witnessed upward estimate revisions over the past 60 days. Year to date, Meridian Bioscience has gained 28.9% versus the industry's 9.2% decline.

Headquartered in Burlingame, CA, Innoviva, Inc. receives royalties under the Long-Acting Beta2 Agonist (LABA) collaboration agreement on sales of once-daily products for treating asthma.

For 2022 EPS, Innoviva has witnessed upward estimate revisions over the past 60 days. Year to date, Innoviva has gained 13.7% compared with the industry's 3.7% rally.

OP Bancorp has a solid business model and serves the banking needs of professionals and businesses with small and medium-sized operations.

In 2022 and 2023, OP Bancorp is likely to see earnings growth of 18.1% and 3.6%, respectively. Year to date, OP Bancorp has gained 11.4% compared with the industry's 5.3% rally.

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