By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY and JAMES DETAR

Aerospace/defense stock Heico (HEIA) trades near a breakout point that is also its all-time high.

Hollywood, Fla.-based Heico has formed a flat base with a 338.92 buy point. It hit that record high on Aug. 5 and is looking to surpass it. It closed higher the last three trading sessions in a row, finishing Monday at 334.58, up 2.4% for the day.

Heico On Cusp Of Breakout

Also on Monday the Relative Strength (RS) Rating for Heico stock climbed to a higher percentile, as it got a lift to 77, up 15 points from its rating at the end of last week, and just three points below a bullish benchmark.

Market research shows that the stocks that go on to make the biggest gains tend to have an 80 or higher RS Rating in the early stages of their moves. See if Heico can continue to rise and hit that benchmark.

Heico makes jet engine and aircraft replacement parts, and electronic systems. Additionally it offers flight-critical repair and overhaul services, specializing in over 32,000 aircraft accessory components. It serves the military, commercial airlines and other corporations.

Among its other key ratings, Heico owns a near-best 98 Earnings Per Share Rating out of 99. Its Composite Rating is nearly as good, at 97, putting it in the top 3% of all stocks for a group of the most important fundamental and technical metrics.

It has a top-notch A SMR Rating (sales + profit margin + return on equity). And its B Accumulation/Distribution Rating shows that funds are fairly heavy investors.

In terms of fundamentals, the company has posted two quarters of rising earnings growth. Sales gains have also moved higher during the same period.

Among Top 5 In Its Industry Group

Last quarter Heico reported a 34% increase in EPS to $1.33 on a 19% gain in revenue to $1.21 billion. The prior three stanzas it recorded EPS gains of 39%, 27% and 30%. During that period sales grew 15%, 15% and 16%

Heico holds the No. 4 rank among its peers in the 77-stock Aerospace/Defense industry group. GE Aerospace (GE) is the No. 1-ranked stock in the group. GE is also nearing a buy point. The group itself has a decent B- Group RS Rating.

IBD's proprietary Relative Strength Rating measures market leadership by using a 1 (worst) to 99 (best) score that shows how a stock's price action over the trailing 52 weeks compares to other publicly traded companies.

This article was created automatically with Stats Perform's Wordsmith software using data and article templates supplied by Investor's Business Daily. An IBD journalist may have edited the article.

Please follow James DeTar on Twitter @JimDeTar

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