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The following are today's upgrades for Validea's Low PE Investor model based on the published strategy of John Neff. This strategy looks for firms with persistent earnings growth that trade at a discount relative to their earnings growth and dividend yield.

BERRY GLOBAL GROUP INC (BERY) is a mid-cap value stock in the Fabricated Plastic & Rubber industry. The rating according to our strategy based on John Neff changed from 79% to 98% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.

Company Description: Berry Global Group, Inc. creates packaging and engineered products. The Company operates through four segments: Consumer Packaging International, Consumer Packaging North America, Health, Hygiene and Specialties, and Engineered Materials. The Consumer Packaging International segment primarily consists of closures and dispensing systems, pharmaceutical devices and packaging, bottles and canisters, and containers. The Consumer Packaging North America segment primarily consists of containers and pails, foodservice, closures, bottles, prescription vials, and tubes. The Health, Hygiene & Specialties segment primarily consists of healthcare, hygiene, specialties, and tapes. The Engineered Materials segment primarily consists of stretch and shrink films, converter films, institutional can liners, food and consumer films, retail bags, and agriculture films. The Company partners with customers to develop, design, and manufacture products with a focus on the circular economy.

The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.

Detailed Analysis of BERRY GLOBAL GROUP INC

INGREDION INC (INGR) is a mid-cap value stock in the Food Processing industry. The rating according to our strategy based on John Neff changed from 62% to 81% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.

Company Description: Ingredion Incorporated is a global ingredients solutions provider that transforms corn, tapioca, potatoes, stevia, grains, fruits and vegetables into value-added ingredients and biomaterials for the food, beverage, brewing and other industries. It operates through four segments: North America, South America, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). It develops, produces, and sells a variety of food and beverage ingredients, primarily starches and sweeteners, for various industries. Its product lines include starches and sweeteners, animal feed products and edible corn oil. Its starch-based products include both food-grade and industrial starches, as well as biomaterials. Its sweetener products include glucose syrups, high maltose syrups, high fructose corn syrup, caramel color, dextrose, polyols, maltodextrins, and glucose and syrup solids. Its products are derived primarily from the processing of corn and other starch-based materials, such as tapioca, potato and rice.

The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.

Detailed Analysis of INGREDION INC

TIMKEN CO (TKR) is a mid-cap growth stock in the Misc. Capital Goods industry. The rating according to our strategy based on John Neff changed from 60% to 79% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.

Company Description: The Timken Company designs a portfolio of engineered bearings and industrial motion products. The Company's Engineered Bearings segment features a broad range of product designs serving original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and end-users worldwide. Its portfolio features Timken and GGB brands and serves customers across global industries, including wind energy, agriculture, construction, food and beverage, metals and mining, automotive and truck, aerospace, rail and more. The Industrial Motion segment includes a portfolio of engineered products, including industrial drives, automatic lubrication systems, linear motion products and systems, chains, belts, couplings and industrial clutches and brakes that keep systems running efficiently. The Industrial Motion portfolio features brands, such as Philadelphia Gear, Cone Drive, Spinea, Rollon, Nadella, Groeneveld, BEKA, Diamond, Drives, Timken Belts, Lovejoy, and PT Tech. The Company also manufactures engineered sealing solutions.

The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.

Detailed Analysis of TIMKEN CO

About John Neff: While known as the manager with whom many top managers entrusted their own money, Neff was far from the smooth-talking, high-profile Wall Streeter you might expect. He was mild-mannered and low-key, and the same might be said of the Windsor Fund that he managed for more than three decades. In fact, Neff himself described the fund as "relatively prosaic, dull, [and] conservative." There was nothing dull about his results, however. From 1964 to 1995, Neff guided Windsor to a 13.7 percent average annual return, easily outpacing the S&P 500's 10.6 percent return during that time. That 3.1 percentage point difference is huge over time -- a $10,000 investment in Windsor (with dividends reinvested) at the start of Neff's tenure would have ended up as more than $564,000 by the time he retired, more than twice what the same investment in the S&P would have yielded (about $233,000). Considering the length of his tenure, that track record may be the best ever for a manager of such a large fund.

About Validea: Validea is aninvestment researchservice that follows the published strategies of investment legends. Validea offers both stock analysis and model portfolios based on gurus who have outperformed the market over the long-term, including Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham, Peter Lynch and Martin Zweig. For more information about Validea, click here

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.