Zacks.com featured highlights Sterling Infrastructure, Stride, BJ's Wholesale Club and Philip Morris

For Immediate ReleaseChicago, IL – April 29, 2025 – Stocks in this week’s article are Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. STRL, Stride, Inc. LRN, BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. BJ and Philip Morris International Inc. PM.4 Stocks with Remarkable Interest Coverage RatiosRelying solely on stock price movements without understanding the company’s fundamentals can cause investors to lose money. Investors must carefully review a company's financial health to make informed decisions, especially in today’s unpredictable market.While sales and earnings are often the go-to metrics, they can sometimes be misleading and may not show whether a company has the financial strength to cover its obligations. This is where the coverage ratio holds the key — a higher ratio signals that a company is more capable of meeting its financial commitments.Sterling Infrastructure, Inc., Stride, Inc., BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. and Philip Morris International Inc. have impressive interest coverage ratios.Why Interest Coverage Ratio?The interest coverage ratio is used to determine how effectively a company can pay interest charges on its debt.Debt, which is crucial to financing operations for the majority of companies, comes at a cost called interest. Interest expense has a direct bearing on the profitability of a company. The company’s creditworthiness depends on how effectively it meets its interest obligations. Therefore, the interest coverage ratio is one of the important criteria to factor in before making any investment decision.Interest Coverage Ratio = Earnings before Interest & Taxes (EBIT) divided by Interest Expense.The interest coverage ratio suggests how many times the interest could be paid from earnings and gauges the margin of safety a firm has for paying interest.An interest coverage ratio lower than 1 suggests that the company is unable to fulfill its interest obligations and could default on repaying debt. A company capable of generating earnings well above its interest expense can withstand financial hardships. One should also track the company’s past performance to determine whether the interest coverage ratio has improved or worsened over time.Here are four of the 12 stocks that qualified the screening:Sterling Infrastructure, which is engaged in e-infrastructure, transportation and building solutions, sports a Zacks Rank #1 and has a VGM Score of B. Sterling Infrastructure delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 16.2%, on average. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Sterling Infrastructure’s current financial year EPS suggests growth of 34.6% from a year ago. The stock has surged 43.5% in the past year.Stride, a technology-based education company, sports a Zacks Rank #1 and has a VGM Score of A. LRN has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 97.8%, on average.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Stride’s current financial year sales and EPS implies growth of 14.9% and 48.4%, respectively, from the year-ago period. The stock has soared 107.5% in the past year. (See the Zacks Earnings Calendar to stay ahead of market-making news.)BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, a leading operator of membership warehouse clubs, carries a Zacks Rank #2 and has a VGM Score of B. BJ has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 12%, on average.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BJ's Wholesale Club’s current financial year sales and EPS indicates growth of 5.8% and 4.4%, respectively, from the year-ago period. The stock has advanced 48.3% in the past year.Philip Morris, which operates as a tobacco company, carries a Zacks Rank #2 and has a VGM Score of B. PM has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 3.6%, on average.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Philip Morris’ current financial year sales and EPS suggests growth of 7.3% and 13.2%, respectively, from the year-ago period. The stock has rallied 86.1% in the past year.You can get the rest of the stocks on this list by signing up now for your 2-week free trial to the Research Wizard and start using this screen in your own trading. Further, you can also create your own strategies and back test them first before taking the investment plunge.The Research Wizard is a great place to begin. It's easy to use. Everything is in plain language. And it's very intuitive. Start your Research Wizard trial today. And the next time you read an economic report, open up the Research Wizard, plug your finds in, and see what gems come out.Click here to sign up for a free trial to the Research Wizard today.For the rest of this Screen of the Week article please visit Zacks.com at: https://www.zacks.com/stock/news/2456552/4-stocks-that-boast-remarkable-interest-coverage-ratioFollow us on Twitter:  https://www.twitter.com/zacksresearchJoin us on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/ZacksInvestmentResearchZacks Investment Research is under common control with affiliated entities (including a broker-dealer and an investment adviser), which may engage in transactions involving the foregoing securities for the clients of such affiliates.Contact: Jim GiaquintoCompany: Zacks.comPhone: 312-265-9268Email: pr@zacks.comVisit: https://www.zacks.com/Zacks.com provides investment resources and informs you of these resources, which you may choose to use in making your own investment decisions. Zacks is providing information on this resource to you subject to the Zacks "Terms and Conditions of Service" disclaimer. www.zacks.com/disclaimer.Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.Zacks Names #1 Semiconductor StockIt's only 1/9,000th the size of NVIDIA which skyrocketed more than +800% since we recommended it. NVIDIA is still strong, but our new top chip stock has much more room to boom.With strong earnings growth and an expanding customer base, it's positioned to feed the rampant demand for Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Internet of Things. Global semiconductor manufacturing is projected to explode from $452 billion in 2021 to $803 billion by 2028.See This Stock Now for Free >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Philip Morris International Inc. (PM): Free Stock Analysis Report BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (BJ): Free Stock Analysis Report Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. (STRL): Free Stock Analysis Report Stride, Inc. (LRN): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks