Zacks Earnings and Margins Strategy highlights: Acuity Brands, Hawaiian Holdings, Schnitzer Steel Industries and Almost Family

Business Wire, April 8, 2008

CHICAGO -- Earnings are the single most important metric for a company. Combine that with a healthy Net Profit Margin and you find a screen that has generated a cumulative return of 623.7% since January 2001. For 2006, this Profit Track has returned 23.4%. For the first month of 2007, this Profit Track returned 4.0%. This screen is called the Earnings and Margins Profit Track strategy. Here are four stocks meeting this screen's exclusive criteria: Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE: AYI), Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. (AMEX: HA), Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCHN), Almost Family, Inc. (NASDAQ: AFAM). View the entire list of stocks for the Earnings and Margins Profit Track at http://at.zacks.com/?id=1858

Here are four companies that meet the following Earnings and Margins Profit Track:

Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE: AYI) recently announced a 40% increase in its second quarter earnings, with year-over-year net profits jumping to $34.1 million from $24.4 million. The revenue for the quarter amounted to $482.6 million, which was $12.4 million above analysts' expectations. The Zacks #2 Rank company enjoys a net margin of 6%, indicating that it is a solid company with satisfactory earnings. Moreover, AYI sports a growth rate of 44% and an average broker rating of 1. Acuity Brands Inc. is one of the world's leading providers of lighting fixtures.

Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. (AMEX: HA), a Zacks #1 Rank company, places on this profit track with a growth rate of 123.1% and an average broker recommendation of 1. HA's fourth-quarter operating revenue increased by 14.1 % to $250.7 million, while it's full year operating revenue was $982.6 million. In addition, HA's shares recently skyrocketed to their 52-week high after picking up the slack for Aloha and ATA airlines, which filed for bankruptcy and discontinued flights to and from Hawaii. HA is a parent company of Hawaiian Airlines Inc, Hawaii's largest airline, serving 20 domestic and international destinations.

Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCHN) currently enjoys a net profit margin of 6% and a Zacks #1 Rank, which qualify this manufacturer of finished steel products for the Earnings and Margins profit track. In addition, SCHN enjoys an average broker recommendation of 1 and a growth rate of 8.56%. The company reported it's second quarter results on April 3, including revenue of $751 million that improved from $604 million. With this 24% increase in revenues, SCHN also hit it's 52-week high in April.

Almost Family, Inc. (NASDAQ: AFAM) earned it's place on the Earnings and Margins profit track with a net profit margin of 6% and a Zacks #2 Rank. The company reported that fourth quarter and annual net profits increased to $2.1 million and $7.6 million, respectively, from $1.5 million and $4.2 million. Furthermore, the EPS growth rate for Almost Family Inc. was 75% over the past year. AFAM is a home healthcare industry leader with a 30-year history of providing outstanding healthcare and personal care services.

Discover all the current stocks currently on the Earnings and Margin Profit Track at: http://at.zacks.com/?id=1859

About Profit Tracks

What is a "Profit Track"? Each Profit Track 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 nine unique screens to offer investors great strategies to potentially outperform the market in the years ahead. In 2006, the Low Price Stocks strategy was the top performing Profit Track with a return of 56.5% followed by the Discounted Fundamental screen with a 34% return. To see all nine strategies along with philosophy, past performance and current stocks, go to http://at.zacks.com/?id=1838.

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