News

The following are today's upgrades for Validea's Book/Market Investor model based on the published strategy of Joseph Piotroski. This value-quant strategy screens for high book-to-market stocks, and then separates out financially sound firms by looking at a host of improving financial criteria.

ORASURE TECHNOLOGIES, INC. (OSUR) is a small-cap value stock in the Biotechnology & Drugs industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Joseph Piotroski changed from 0% to 80% 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: OraSure Technologies, Inc. provides point-of-care and home diagnostic tests, sample management solutions, and microbiome laboratory and analytical services. The Company's product portfolio is divided into diagnostics products and sample management solutions. Its business consists of the development, manufacture, marketing and sale of diagnostic products and specimen collection devices using its technologies, as well as other diagnostic products including immunoassays and other in vitro diagnostic tests that are used on other specimen types. Its diagnostic products include tests for diseases including COVID-19, HIV and Hepatitis C that are performed on a rapid basis at the point of care, and tests for drugs of abuse that are processed in a laboratory. Its business also includes molecular sample management solutions and services that are used by clinical laboratories, direct-to-consumer laboratories, researchers, pharmaceutical companies, and animal health service and product providers.

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 ORASURE TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

RUNWAY GROWTH FINANCE CORP (RWAY) is a small-cap value stock in the Consumer Financial Services industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Joseph Piotroski changed from 0% to 80% 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: Runway Growth Finance Corp. is a specialty finance company. The Company is focused on providing senior secured loans to high growth-potential companies in technology, life sciences, healthcare information and services, business services, select consumer services and products and other high-growth industries. Its investment objective is to maximize its total return to its stockholders primarily through current income on the Company's loan portfolio and secondarily through capital appreciation on its warrants and other equity positions. The Company invests in senior secured term loans and other senior debt obligations and also it invests in second lien loans issued by high growth-potential companies. The Company originates its investments through two strategies: Sponsored Growth Lending and Non-Sponsored Growth Lending. It also invests in secured loans, and acquires equity securities as well, including warrants. The Company is externally managed by Runway Growth Capital LLC (RGC).

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 RUNWAY GROWTH FINANCE CORP

DEUTSCHE LUFTHANSA AG (ADR) (DLAKY) is a mid-cap value stock in the Airline industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Joseph Piotroski changed from 0% to 80% 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: Deutsche Lufthansa AG is a Germany-based aviation company, which provides passenger and cargo air transportation services worldwide. The Company's segments include Passenger Airlines, Logistics, MRO and Catering. The Passenger Airlines segment includes Lufthansa Airlines, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Eurowings. The Logistics segment includes the airfreight container management specialist Jettainer group, the time:matters Group, which specialises in urgent shipments, the subsidiary Heyworld, which specialises in tailored solutions for the e-commerce sector, CB Customs Broker, the customs and customs clearance specialist, and the Lufthansa Group's 50% stake in the cargo airline AeroLogic. The MRO segment, represented by the Lufthansa Technik group, is a global provider of maintenance, repair and overhaul services for civil and commercial aircraft. The Catering segment consists of traditional catering and onboard retail along with food commerce activities.

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 DEUTSCHE LUFTHANSA AG (ADR)

About Joseph Piotroski: Piotroski isn't your typical Wall Street big shot. In fact, he's not even a professional investor. He's a good old numbers-crunching accountant and college professor. But in 2000, shortly after he started teaching at the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business, Piotroski published a groundbreaking paper in the Journal of Accounting Research entitled "Value Investing: The Use of Historical Financial Statement Information to Separate Winners from Losers". In it, Piotroski laid out an accounting-based stock-selection/shorting method that produced a 23 percent average annual back-tested return from 1976 through 1996 -- more than double the S&P 500's gain during that time. Piotroski's findings were reported in major financial publiations like SmartMoney. Today, he teaches accounting at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business.

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.