In the equity market, investments need to be prudently hedged to overcome uncertainties and limit losses related to external shocks. A question that arises often is whether one should resort to a value strategy that seeks discounted stocks or opt for growth investing in times of extreme market instability.
The investing track of the Oracle of Omaha over the past few decades and his gradual shift from being a pure-play value investor to a GARP (growth at a reasonable price) investor might give us all the answers.
Per the GARP theory, the strategic mingling of growth and value-investing principles gives us a hybrid strategy, offering an ideal investment by utilizing the best features of both. What GARPers look for is whether or not the stocks are somewhat undervalued and have solid, sustainable growth potential (Investopedia).
Several stocks that have surged significantly in recent years have demonstrated the overwhelming success of this hybrid investing strategy over pure-play value and growth investments. Here, we will discuss the success of four such stocks. These include Carnival Corporation CCL, Levi Strauss & Co. LEVI, Vodafone Group VOD and Invesco IVZ.
GARP investing gives priority to one of the popular value metrics — the price/earnings growth (PEG) ratio. Although it is categorized under value investing, this strategy follows the principles of both growth and value investing.
The PEG ratio is defined as (Price/ Earnings)/Earnings Growth Rate
It relates the stocks’ P/E ratio with the future earnings growth rates.
While P/E alone gives an idea of stocks that are trading at a discount, PEG, while adding the growth element to it, helps identify stocks with solid future potential.
A lower PEG ratio, preferably less than 1, is always better for GARP investors.
Say for example, if a stock’s P/E ratio is 10 and the expected long-term growth rate is 15%, the company’s PEG will come down to 0.66, a ratio indicating both undervaluation and future growth potential.
Unfortunately, this ratio is often neglected due to investors’ limitations in calculating the future earnings growth rate of a stock.
There are some drawbacks to using the PEG ratio though. It does not consider the very common situation of changing growth rates, such as the forecast of the first three years at a very high growth rate, followed by a sustainable but lower growth rate over the long term.
Hence, PEG-based investing can be even more rewarding if some other relevant parameters are also taken into consideration.
Here are the screening criteria for a winning strategy:
P/E Ratio (using F1) less than X Industry Median (For more accurate valuation purpose)
Zacks Rank of 1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy) (Whether good market conditions or bad, stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 or #2 have a proven history of success.)
Market Capitalization greater than $1 Billion (This helps us to focus on companies that have strong liquidity.)
Average 20-Day Volume greater than 50,000: A substantial trading volume ensures that the stock is easily tradable.
Percentage Change F1 Earnings Estimate Revisions (4 Weeks) greater than 5%: Upward estimate revisions add to the optimism, suggesting further bullishness.
Value Score of less than or equal to B: Our research shows that stocks with a Value Style Score of A or B, when combined with a Zacks Rank #1, 2 or 3 (Hold), offer the best upside potential.
Here are four out of the 11 stocks that qualified the screening:
Carnival: Headquartered in Miami, FL, Carnival operates as a cruise and vacation company. As a single economic entity, Carnival Corporation & Carnival plc forms the largest cruise operator in the world. It is the world’s leading leisure travel firm and carries nearly half of the global cruise guests. The company operates in North America, Australia, Europe and Asia.
Carnival can also be an impressive GARP investment pick with its Zacks Rank #2 and a Value Score of A. Apart from a discounted PEG and P/E, the stock has an impressive long-term historical growth rate of 28.5%.
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Levi: It designs, markets and sells apparel and accessories for men, women, and children globally. Its offerings include jeans, pants, tops, jackets, footwear, and more under the Levi’s, Dockers, Signature by Levi Strauss & Co., Denizen, and Beyond Yoga brands. LEVI also licenses its trademarks for products like belts, bags, outerwear and kidswear.
Levi stock can also be an impressive GARP investment pick with its Zacks Rank #1 and a Value Score of B. Apart from a discounted PEG and P/E, LEVI has a solid long-term historical growth rate of 9.5%.
Vodafone: The company provides telecom services across Germany, the UK, Europe, Turkey and South Africa. It offers mobile, fixed and connectivity solutions, including IoT, cloud, edge computing and digital services. Vodafone also operates M-PESA, a mobile money platform in Africa, and provides international voice, roaming and infrastructure services.
Vodafone stock can be an impressive value investment pick with its Zacks Rank #1 and a Value Score of A. Apart from a discounted PEG and P/E, VOD also has an impressive long-term historical growth rate of 11.8%.
Invesco: Headquartered in Atlanta, GA, Invesco Ltd. is an independent investment manager with $1.84 trillion in AUM as of March 31, 2025. The company operates in over 20 countries and offers a wide range of investment products, including ETFs, fixed income, equities, private markets, multi-asset solutions and QQQ.
Invesco can also be an impressive value investment pick with its Zacks Rank #1 and a Value Score of B. Apart from a discounted PEG and P/E, the stock also has a solid long-term expected growth rate of 6.3%.
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 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.
Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.
Disclosure: Performance information for Zacks’ portfolios and strategies are available at: https://www.zacks.com/performance.
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Carnival Corporation (CCL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Vodafone Group PLC (VOD) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Invesco Ltd. (IVZ) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Levi Strauss & Co. (LEVI) : Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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