Zacks Sell List Highlights: Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., Ryanair Holdings plc, Investors Real Estate Trust and Magellan Midstream Partners, L.P.

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Zacks.com releases details on a group of stocks that are currently members of the exclusive Zacks #5 Rank List – Stocks to Sell Now. These stocks are currently rated as a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell): Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (NYSE: JEC) and Ryanair Holdings plc (Nasdaq: RYAAY). Further, Zacks announced #4 Rankings (Sell) on two other widely held stocks: Investors Real Estate Trust (Nasdaq: IRET) and Magellan Midstream Partners, L.P. (NYSE: MMP). To see the full Zacks #5 Rank List - Stocks to Sell Now visit: http://at.zacks.com/?id=92

“Earnings estimate revisions are the most powerful force impacting stock prices.”

Since inception in 1988, the S&P 500 has outperformed the Zacks #5 Rank List of Stocks to Sell Now by 80% annually (+2% vs. +10%). While the rest of Wall Street continued to tout stocks during the market declines of the last few years, Zacks told investors which stocks to sell or avoid.

Here is a synopsis of why JEC and RYAAY have a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell) and should most likely be sold or avoided for the next one to three months. Note that a #5 Strong Sell rating is applied to 5% of all the stocks in the Zacks Rank universe:

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (NYSE: JEC) announced fourth-quarter earnings of 63 cents per share on Nov 16, reflecting a 31% decline year over year. Earnings fell short of analysts’ expectations by nearly 9%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year is pegged at $2.38 per share, which decreased 60 cents over the past 2 months. Next year’s estimate has fallen 63 cents to $2.75 per share in the same period.

Ryanair Holdings plc (Nasdaq: RYAAY) reported a second-quarter profit of $1.20 per share last month that came in 11% behind the average forecast. For 2010, the Zacks Consensus Estimate dropped 2 cents to a profit of $1.42 per share over the past month as 1 analyst out of 4 cut back on projections. The following year’s estimate fell 3 cents to $1.79 per share during that time.

Here is a synopsis of why IRET and MMP have a Zacks Rank of 4 (Sell) and should also most likely be sold or avoided for the next one to three months. Note that a #4 Sell rating is applied to 15% of all the stocks ranked by Zacks;

Investors Real Estate Trust’s (Nasdaq: IRET) second-quarter earnings of 16 cents per share, reported on Dec 10, missed analysts’ projections by 20%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the full year declined 2 cents to a profit of 74 cents per share in the last 7 days as 1 analyst out of 5 reduced on estimates. During that time span, estimate for 2011 slipped 2 cents to a profit of 75 cents per share.

Magellan Midstream Partners, L.P. (NYSE: MMP) recorded a 42% year-over-year decline in third-quarter profit. On Nov 3, the company posted quarterly earnings of 43 cents per share, which fell 17 cents short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Revenues slumped 18% to $239.8 million. The full-year average forecast is now $2.16 cents per share, compared to $2.31 projected a couple of months ago.

Truly taking advantage of the Zacks Rank requires the understanding of how it works. The free special report; “Zacks Rank Guide: Harnessing the Power of Earnings Estimate Revisions” is available to provide this insightful background. Download a free copy now to prosper in the years to come at http://at.zacks.com/?id=93

About the Zacks Rank

Since 1988, the Zacks Rank has proven that "Earnings estimate revisions are the most powerful force impacting stock prices." Since inception in 1988, #1 Rank Stocks have generated an average annual return of +27%. During the 2000-2002 bear market, Zacks #1 Rank stocks gained +43.8%, while the S&P 500 tumbled -37.6%. Also note that the Zacks Rank system has just as many Strong Sell recommendations (Rank #5) as Strong Buy recommendations (Rank #1). Since 1988, Zacks Rank #5 stocks have significantly underperformed the S&P 500 (-0.9% versus +9%). Thus, the Zacks Rank system allows investors to truly manage portfolio trading effectively.

Visit http://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

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