Chart of the Day: Core & Main - Industrial Distribution

 The Chart of the Day belongs to the industrial goods distribution company Core & Main (CNM) .  I found the stock by using Barchart's powerful screening functions to find stocks with the highest technical buy signals, highest Weighted Alpha, superior current momentum and having a Trend Seeker buy signal then used the Flipchart  feature to review the charts for consistent price appreciation. Since the Trend Seeker signaled a buy on 11 /3 the stock gained 24.87%.

Core & Main, Inc. distributes water, wastewater, storm drainage, and fire protection products and related services to municipalities, private water companies, and professional contractors in the municipal, non-residential, and residential end markets in the United States. Its products portfolio include pipes, valves, hydrants, fittings, and other products and services; storm drainage products, such as corrugated piping systems, retention basins, inline drains, manholes, grates, geosynthetics, erosion control, and other related products; fire protection products, including fire protection pipes, and sprinkler heads and devices, as well as fabrication services; and meter products, such as smart meter products, meter accessories, installation, software, and other services. The company's specialty products and services are used in the maintenance, repair, replacement, and construction of water, wastewater, storm drainage, and fire protection infrastructure. Core & Main, Inc. was founded in 1874 and is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri.

Barchart's Opinion Trading systems are listed below. Please note that the Barchart Opinion indicators are updated live during the session every 20 minutes and can therefore change during the day as the market fluctuates. The indicator numbers shown below therefore may not match what you see live on the Barchart.com website when you read this report.

Barchart Technical Indicators:

• 100% technical buy signals
• 109.54+ Weighted Alpha
• 104.49% gain in the last year
• Trend Seeker buy signal
• Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
• 17 new highs and up 16.49% in the last month
• Relative Strength Index 77.06%
• Technical support level at $39.26
• Recently traded at $39.99 with 50 day moving average of $33.83

Fundamental Factors:

• Market Cap $8.54 billion
• P/E 18.80
• Revenue expected to grow 1.40% this year and another 5.20% next year
• Earnings are estimated to increase 4.80% next year and continue to compound at an annual rate of 11.53% for the next 5 years

Analysts and Investor Sentiment -- I don't buy stocks because everyone else is buying but I do realize that if major firms and investors are dumping a stock it's hard to make money swimming against the tide:

• Wall Street analysts issued 5 strong buy, 3 buy, 3 hold  and 1 sell recommendation on the stock
• Analysts price target are between $28 and $69 –  with a consensus price target of  $44 which is about 9% above today's price
• Value Line gives the stock an above average rating of 2 but has an 18 month price target of $41
• CFRA's MarketScope gives the stock a strong buy recommendation
• 1,640 investors monitor the stock on Seeking Alpha

Special Note:  With all the professionals having strong buy and buy recommendations does it make sense that their price targets are below today's price???  This is a good reason why you should do your own research and think for yourself

Additional disclosure: The Barchart Chart of the Day highlights stocks that are experiencing exceptional current price appreciation. They are not intended to be buy recommendations as these stocks are extremely volatile and speculative. Should you decide to add one of these stocks to your investment portfolio it is highly suggested you follow a predetermined diversification and moving stop loss discipline that is consistent with your personal investment risk tolerance and reevaluate your stop losses at least on a weekly basis.