Each stock in this article is trading near its 52-week high. These elevated prices usually indicate some degree of investor confidence, business improvements, or favorable market conditions.
However, not all companies with momentum are long-term winners, and many investors have lost money by following short-term trends. Keeping that in mind, here is one stock with lasting competitive advantages and two best left ignored.
Two Stocks to Sell:
Valley National Bank (VLY)
One-Month Return: +4.5%
Tracing its roots back to 1927 during the economic boom before the Great Depression, Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQGS:VLY) operates Valley National Bank, providing commercial, consumer, and wealth management banking services across several states.
Why Should You Dump VLY?
- Sales stagnated over the last two years and signal the need for new growth strategies
- Net interest income trends were unexciting over the last five years as its 10% annual growth was below the typical banking firm
- Incremental sales over the last five years were much less profitable as its earnings per share fell by 2.5% annually while its revenue grew
At $12 per share, Valley National Bank trades at 0.9x forward P/B. Dive into our free research report to see why there are better opportunities than VLY.
Trustmark (TRMK)
One-Month Return: +3.4%
Tracing its roots back to 1889 in Mississippi, Trustmark (NASDAQ: TRMK) is a financial services organization providing banking, wealth management, insurance, and mortgage services across five southeastern states.
Why Does TRMK Give Us Pause?
- Annual net interest income growth of 8.6% over the last five years was below our standards for the banking sector
- Anticipated 1.7 percentage point rise in its efficiency ratio suggests its expenses will increase as a percentage of revenue
- ROE of 7.2% reflects management’s challenges in identifying attractive investment opportunities
Trustmark is trading at $40.14 per share, or 1.1x forward P/B. To fully understand why you should be careful with TRMK, check out our full research report (it’s free for active Edge members).
One Stock to Watch:
Parker-Hannifin (PH)
One-Month Return: +3.6%
Founded in 1917, Parker Hannifin (NYSE: PH) is a manufacturer of motion and control systems for a wide variety of mobile, industrial and aerospace markets.
Why Do We Watch PH?
- Highly efficient business model is illustrated by its impressive 18.2% operating margin, and its profits increased over the last five years as it scaled
- Share repurchases over the last five years enabled its annual earnings per share growth of 20.7% to outpace its revenue gains
- PH is a free cash flow machine with the flexibility to invest in growth initiatives or return capital to shareholders, and its growing cash flow gives it even more resources to deploy
Parker-Hannifin’s stock price of $886.77 implies a valuation ratio of 28.8x forward P/E. Is now the time to initiate a position? Find out in our full research report, it’s free for active Edge members.
High-Quality Stocks for All Market Conditions
Your portfolio can’t afford to be based on yesterday’s story. The risk in a handful of heavily crowded stocks is rising daily.
The names generating the next wave of massive growth are right here in our Top 5 Growth Stocks for this month. This is a curated list of our High Quality stocks that have generated a market-beating return of 244% over the last five years (as of June 30, 2025).
Stocks that made our list in 2020 include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,326% between June 2020 and June 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-micro-cap company Kadant (+351% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today for free. Find your next big winner with StockStory today. Find your next big winner with StockStory today.
