5 PowerRatings Upgrades for Investors: BMY, AYE, CBS, GPN, NCR

Five stocks have earned PowerRatings upgrades as of Monday's open, including a few from outside the familiar territory of utilities and oil & gas pipelines.

That's not to say that investors do not have new places to invest for safety. One of our Long Term PowerRatings upgrades, Allegheny Energy (AYE | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) is one of many top-rated companies in the Electric Utilities industry. Now with a Long Term PowerRating of 8, Allegheny Energy has joined a growing group of stocks in this industry that our research indicates are likely to be both more reliable and better performers than the average stock over the next year.

And we know that health care related companies have tended to be among the higher-rated companies that investors can put their money into. So it is no surprise to find a stock like Bristol Meyers Squibb (BMY@BMY | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) on our PowerRatings Upgrades list.

Bristol Meyers is particularly noteworthy in being the highest rated stock on Monday's list, having earned a Long Term PowerRatings upgrade from 8 to 9. Know that 9-rated stocks are among the best stocks for investors according to our research. We found that 9-rated stocks were not only higher one year later more than 79% of the time, but also that stocks with Long Term PowerRatings of 9 had tended to gain, on average, more than 18% in a year's time.

So what are the more unique and original stocks that have made it on to today's PowerRatings Upgrades list? One of them is CBS Corporation Class B (CBS@CBS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating), which earned a Long Term PowerRatings upgrade from 7 to 8

CBS recently completed its acquisition of CNET Networks, an effort to expand the media/communications company's exposure online. CBS next reports earnings on July 31, with analysts expecting EPS of $0.52.

A member of the top-rated Business/Management Services industry group, Global Payments Inc. (GPN@GPN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) actually shares top billing with another 8-rated stock, Watson Wyatt & Company Holdings (WW@WW | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating).

Global Payments is in the business of processing electronics payments and transactions for a wide variety of multinational corporations, public/government organizations, and financial institutions. GPN last reported earnings in March, beating analyst estimates by two cents. The company reports again on July 24, with EPS of $0.51 expected.

Last but not least, the 8-rated member of NCR Corporation (NCR@NCR | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating)

NCR Corporation shares the Information Technology industry group - an industry group with a top Industry PowerRating of 10 - with a pair of other 8-rated stocks: Affiliated Computer Systems (ACS@ACS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) and Perot Systems Corporation (PER@PER | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating). As an 8-rated stock, NCR belongs to that group of stocks that, according to our research, has been higher one year later more than 74% of the time. Compare this to the average stock, which has been higher one year later less than 68% of the time.

NCR last reported earnings in May, beating estimates by four cents. They will next report earnings on July 29, with analysts expecting earnings per share of $0.35.

David Penn is Senior Editor at PowerRatings.net.