Zacks Return On Equity Strategy Highlights: Columbus McKinnon Corp., Guess? Inc., Kindred Healthcare, and Maverick Tube Corp

Business Wire, June 22, 2005

CHICAGO -- One of the quickest ways to gauge whether a company is creating assets or gobbling up investor's cash is to look at their Return On Equity (ROE). The fast moving ROE Profit Track screening strategy from Zacks.com returned 70.4% in 2003 and 30.3% for 2004; almost three times the S&P 500's return. Four stocks currently meeting this screens exclusive criteria as of June 21, 2005 are Columbus McKinnon Corp. (NASDAQ:CMCO), Guess? Inc. (NYSE:GES), Kindred Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:KND), and Maverick Tube Corp. (NYSE:MVK). View the entire list of stocks for the ROE Profit Track at http://at.zacks.com/?id=1853

Here are four companies that meet the following ROE Profit Track:

Columbus McKinnon Corp. (NASDAQ:CMCO) recently reported that fiscal fourth-quarter earnings per share topped the consensus estimate by 100%. The result also marked a solid improvement over the year-ago performance. Columbus McKinnon said it benefited from the improved economic environment in fiscal 2005 and was able to capitalize on higher sales with its reduced cost structure. CMCO boasts a ROE of 18.37% and a price to sales ratio of .36

Guess? Inc. (NYSE:GES) has a ROE of 17.10% and a price to sales ratio of .97. The company recently announced that retail sales for the fiscal month of May increased 10.8% over last year's total, while comparable store sales improved by 1.9%. In early May, GES posted first-quarter earnings of 18 cents per share, eclipsing last year's two cents and surging past the consensus estimate by about 500%.

Kindred Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:KND) posted first-quarter earnings in late April. The result not only outpaced its year ago total but also jumped ahead of the consensus estimate by about 34%. The company commented that it is off to a great start in 2005 with all four of its operating divisions achieving higher revenues and operating income compared to a year ago. With a ROE of 13.03, the company is creating assets and has an appealing valuation as evidenced by its price to sales ratio of .41.

Maverick Tube Corp. (NYSE:MVK) is a manufacturer of steel tubular products used in the completion of new oil and gas wells. With a ROE of 34.86 and a price to sales ratio of .91, this stock is a good value that is creating assets. In late April, MVK reported first quarter earnings of 72 cents per share, matching the year-ago result. Net sales were a record $446.5 million, up from net sales of $311.3 million for the first quarter 2004

Discover all the current stocks currently on the ROE Profit Track at: http://at.zacks.com/?id=1854

About Profit Tracks

What is a "Profit Track"? Each one is a successful stock picking strategy with proven results through the Bear Market of 2001-2002 and the Bull run started in 2003. On Zacks.com we have created these 6 unique screens to offer investors great strategies to potentially outperform the market in the years ahead. In 2004 the Upgrades and Revisions strategy was the top performing Profit Track with a return of 55.7%. The PEG Ratio screen produced 38.9% return in 2004. To see all 6 strategies along with philosophy, past performance and current stocks, then go to http://at.zacks.com/?id=1838

All the Profit Track strategies were created and backtested using the Research Wizard software from Zacks Investment Research. Learn more about the Research Wizard and Free Trial offer. http://at.zacks.com/?id=111

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