Zacks Sell List Highlights: United Fire & Casualty, Pool Corp., Stepan Company and Brunswick Corp.

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Zacks.com releases details on a group of stocks that are currently members of the exclusive Zacks #5 Rank List – Stocks to Sell Now. These stocks are currently rated as a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell): United Fire & Casualty (Nasdaq: UFCS)and Pool Corp. (Nasdaq: POOL). Further, Zacks announced #4 Rankings (Sell) on two other widely held stocks: Stepan Company (NYSE: SCL) and Brunswick Corp. (NYSE: BC). To see the full Zacks #5 Rank List - Stocks to Sell Now visit: http://at.zacks.com/?id=92

Since inception in 1988, the S&P 500 has outperformed the Zacks #5 Rank List of Stocks to Sell Now by 80% annually (+2% vs. +10%). While the rest of Wall Street continued to tout stocks during the market declines of the last few years, Zacks told investors which stocks to sell or avoid.

Here is a synopsis of why UFCS and POOL have a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell) and should most likely be sold or avoided for the next one to three months. Note that a #5 Strong Sell rating is applied to 5% of all the stocks in the Zacks Rank universe:

United Fire & Casualty (Nasdaq: UFCS) reported a fourth-quarter profit of 3 cents per share on Feb 16 that came in 90% short of analysts’ expectations. Consolidated revenue was relatively flat at $149.18 million, in contrast to last year’s $149.77 million. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year moved down to 65 cents per share from $1.05 over the past month as both the covering analysts reduced on estimates.

Pool Corp. (Nasdaq: POOL) swung to a fourth-quarter loss of 27 cents per share on Feb 18 while analysts expected a loss of 25 cents. The company saw an 11% year-over-year drop in net sales to $231 million. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2010 slipped 5 cents to a profit of $1.08 per share in the past week, which reflected reductions by 8 analysts out of 11. During that time, next year’s estimate fell 6 cents to $1.32 per share.

Here is a synopsis of why SCL and BC have a Zacks Rank of 4 (Sell) and should also most likely be sold or avoided for the next one to three months. Note that a #4 Sell rating is applied to 15% of all the stocks ranked by Zacks;

Stepan Company’s (NYSE: SCL) fourth-quarter earnings of 80 cents per share, announced on Feb 9, came in 46 cents behind the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Net sales fell 15% to $310.8 million. For the current year, the average forecast stands at a profit of $3.91 per share, which declined from $4.46 in the last 30 days. During that time span, the current quarter’s estimate fell 30 cents to a profit of $1.37 per share.

Brunswick Corp. (NYSE: BC) reported a fourth-quarter loss of $1.82 per share last month, which was 45 cents wider than analysts’ expectations. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year widened to a loss of $2.43 per share, compared with a month-ago forecast of a loss of $1.80. All of the 4 covering analysts slashed estimates during that period. Next year’s forecast of a loss of 6 cents per share widened from 63 cents over the past month.

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About the Zacks Rank

Since 1988, the Zacks Rank has proven that "Earnings estimate revisions are the most powerful force impacting stock prices." Since inception in 1988, #1 Rank Stocks have generated an average annual return of +27%. During the 2000-2002 bear market, Zacks #1 Rank stocks gained +43.8%, while the S&P 500 tumbled -37.6%. Also note that the Zacks Rank system has just as many Strong Sell recommendations (Rank #5) as Strong Buy recommendations (Rank #1). Since 1988, Zacks Rank #5 stocks have significantly underperformed the S&P 500 (-0.9% versus +9%). Thus, the Zacks Rank system allows investors to truly manage portfolio trading effectively.

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

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