Zacks.com featured highlights Ternium, CBOE, Tutor, Sunstone Hotel Investors and Casey's

For Immediate ReleaseChicago, IL – June 26, 2026 – Stocks in this week’s article Ternium TX, CBOE Global Markets CBOE, Tutor Perini TPC, Sunstone Hotel Investors SHO and Casey’s General Stores CASY.Buy These 5 Low-Leverage Stocks Amid Widespread Tech Sell-OffWall Street finished June 24, 2026, on a mixed note, as investors actively rotated out of high-flying technology stocks to find support in cyclical and consumer discretionary sectors. This rotation caused the tech-heavy Nasdaq and the benchmark S&P 500 to pull back, while the broad-based Dow Jones Industrial Average managed to inch higher.While concerns surrounding overvalued tech companies triggered the localized sell-off, energy investors found unexpected relief in a steady decline in oil prices. Crude benchmarks plummeted to their lowest levels since February-end, before the United States and Israel launched joint airstrikes against Iran.However, this newfound stability in energy prices is unlikely to persist for long, given the structural geopolitical tensions still simmering across the globe.Against this volatile landscape, turning to financially resilient companies, particularly those with low leverage, is a necessity right now.These fiscally conservative companies are better positioned to navigate interest rate fluctuations and geopolitical uncertainty. By providing a stable foundation in a shifting market, they can serve as a strategic hedge against a potential energy-driven economic slowdown.We recommend low-leverage stocks, such as Ternium, CBOE Global Markets, Tutor Perini, Sunstone Hotel Investors and Casey’s General Stores.Before selecting low-leverage stocks, it is important to understand what leverage is and how investing in low-leverage companies can benefit investors.What’s the Significance of Low-Leverage Stocks?In finance, leverage refers to the use of borrowed capital to support business operations and drive expansion. Companies typically raise such funds through debt financing, although equity financing remains an alternative. However, firms often prefer debt due to its relatively lower cost and easier availability compared to issuing equity.Debt financing comes with inherent risks and is beneficial only when it generates returns that exceed the cost of borrowing. To limit downside risk, investors should be cautious of companies that rely excessively on debt. Prudent investing involves selecting businesses with manageable leverage, as completely debt-free companies are rare.The equity market can be volatile at times. As an investor, if you want to avoid significant losses, we suggest focusing on stocks with low leverage, which are generally deemed less risky.To identify such stocks, several leverage ratios have historically been developed to measure the amount of debt a company carries. The debt-to-equity ratio is among the most widely used financial ratios.Analyzing Debt/EquityDebt-to-Equity Ratio = Total Liabilities/Shareholders’ EquityThis metric is a liquidity ratio that indicates the amount of financial risk a company bears. A lower debt-to-equity ratio suggests improved solvency for a company.With the second-quarter 2026 earnings season ahead of us, investors should focus on stocks that have demonstrated solid earnings growth in recent periods.If a stock carries a high debt-to-equity ratio during an economic downturn, its seemingly strong earnings could quickly turn into a nightmare.The Winning StrategyConsidering the aforementioned factors, it would be prudent to choose stocks with a low debt-to-equity ratio to ensure steady returns.Yet, an investment strategy based solely on the debt-to-equity ratio might not fetch the desired outcome. To select stocks with the potential to provide steady returns, we have expanded our screening criteria to include additional factors.Excluding stocks that have a negative or a zero debt-to-equity ratio, we present our five picks out of the 12 that made it through the screen.Ternium: It is the leading producer of flat and long steel products of Latin America and consolidates the operations of the steel companies like Hylsa in Mexico, Siderar in Argentina and Sidor in Venezuela.On May 5, 2026, the company announced its first-quarter 2026 results. Its earnings per ADS improved a massive 220.6% to $1.09. Ternium invested $406 million in the first quarter, primarily for the expansion of its industrial center in Pesquería, Mexico.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for TX’s 2026 sales indicates an improvement of 6.1% from the prior-year reported level. The stock boasts a long-term (three-to-five year) earnings growth rate of 52.80%. It currently sports a Zacks Rank #1.CBOE Global Markets: It is the world's go-to derivatives and exchange network, delivering cutting-edge trading, clearing and investment solutions to people around the world. On June 23, 2026, CBOE announced the launch of the first products in its new prediction markets suite, Cboe Predicts. Cboe Predicts represents the latest expansion of CBOE’s S&P 500 Index (SPX) product suite.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CBOE’s 2026 revenues indicates an improvement of 13.1% from the prior-year reported actuals. The stock boasts a long-term earnings growth rate of 16.80%. CBOE currently sports a Zacks Rank #1. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.Tutor Perini: It is a diversified general contracting, construction management and design-build services provider to private clients and public agencies worldwide. On June 9, 2026, Tutor Perini announced that its subsidiary, Roy Anderson Corp, has won a contract worth approximately $114 million for the Jones Hall Project at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) in Oxford, MS. Per the terms of this project, TPC will construct a new four-story, approximately 110,000-square-foot academic facility that will serve as the home of the nationally recognized Patterson School of Accountancy.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for TPC’s 2026 revenues indicates an improvement of 12.7% from the prior-year reported number. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for TPC’s 2026 earnings indicates an improvement of 20.8% from the prior-year reported number. It currently holds a Zacks Rank #2.Sunstone Hotel Investors: It is a lodging real estate company that owns hotels primarily in the upper-upscale and upscale segments, primarily operated under franchises owned nationally-recognized companies, such as Marriott, Hilton, InterContinental and Hyatt.On June 23, 2026, Sunstone Hotel Investors reported that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell the 821-room Hyatt Regency San Francisco hotel to funds affiliated with Blackstone Real Estate for a gross sale price of $279 million.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SHO’s 2026 revenues indicates an improvement of 4.5% from the prior-year reported actuals. The stock boasts a long-term earnings growth rate of 4.90%. It currently sports a Zacks Rank #1.Casey’s General Stores: It is a chain of convenience stores that operates across 19 states of the United States. On June 24, 2026, the company unveiled its new three-year strategic plan, which focused on expanding CASY’s food business, growing its store base, and leveraging technology to improve efficiency and execution. In particular, the company plans to add at least 400 stores through a combination of strategic acquisitions and new-store development.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CASY’s fiscal 2027 revenues suggests an improvement of 16.2% from the year-ago reported level. The stock boasts a long-term earnings growth rate of 15.80%. It currently sports a Zacks Rank #1.Why Haven't You Looked at Zacks' Top Stocks?Since 2000, our top stock-picking strategies have blown away the S&P's +7.7% average gain per year. Amazingly, they soared with average gains of +48.4%, +50.2% and +56.7% per year.Today you can access their live picks without cost or obligation.See Stocks Free >>For the rest of this Screen of the Week article please visit Zacks.com at: https://www.zacks.com/stock/news/2942926/buy-these-5-low-leverage-stocks-amid-widespread-tech-sell-offDisclosure: 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.About Screen of the WeekZacks.com created the first and best screening system on the web earning the distinction as the "#1 site for screening stocks" by Money Magazine.  But powerful screening tools is just the start. That is why Zacks created the Screen of the Week to highlight profitable stock picking strategies that investors can actively use.Strong Stocks that Should Be in the NewsMany are little publicized and fly under the Wall Street radar. They're virtually unknown to the general public. Yet today's 220 Zacks Rank #1 "Strong Buys" were generated by the stock-picking system that has more than doubled the market from 1988 through 2016. Its average gain has been a stellar +25% per year. 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Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.Beyond Nvidia: AI's Second Wave Is HereThe AI revolution has already minted millionaires. But the stocks everyone knows about aren't likely to keep delivering the biggest profits. AI’s second wave is moving from infrastructure to implementation and these companies are at the forefront of this transition, positioned to become what Amazon and Google were to the internet era.See Stocks Now >>This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks