Stock Spotlight: Edwards Life Sciences (EW)

While utilities stocks are perhaps the most heavily represented stocks among our top Long Term PowerRatings stocks, utilities stocks are not the only options for investors looking for stocks that are likely to be higher in a year's time. Stocks like Edwards Life Sciences (EW | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) - our Featured Stock Spotlight for this week - from the medical field are also among those stocks that investors should keep in mind when considering quality stocks to add to their portfolios.

Edwards Life Sciences is the 2nd ranked stock in our Today's Top Rated Stocks roster and is up more than 4% when it was added to this list a little over a month ago in early June. With its Long Term PowerRating of 9 and the fact that the company is part of an industry that has earned our top Industry PowerRating of 10, it is little surprise to see Edwards Life Sciences performing so well.

Stocks with Long Term PowerRatings of 9 have been both more reliable and better performers than the average stock. We found, after studying thousands and thousands of simulated trades between 1995 and 2007, that stocks with Long Term PowerRatings of 9 were higher one year later more than 79% of the time. Compare this to the average stock over the same time period, which was higher one year later less than 68% of the time.

In addition to being more reliable, high Long Term PowerRatings stocks have simply outperformed the average stock in a year's time. While 9-rated stocks, for example, have tended to gain, on average, more than 18% after one year, the average stock has managed to gain an average of 12-13% over the same time.

Edwards Life Sciences is the top-rated stock in the 10-rated Medical Appliances and Equipment industry, just ahead of the 8-rated Medtronic Inc. (MDT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) and Zimmer Holdings (ZMH | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating). The company specializes in treatments for cardiovascular disease and is the leading heart valve company in the world. In 2007, Edwards Life Sciences had sales in excess of $1 billion.

Edwards Life Sciences has a P/E of 38 and is trading in the upper half of its 52-week price range from 63.49 to 41.69. The company has three consecutive quarterly earnings beats, including the company's earnings report for the most recent quarter, in which Edwards Life Sciences beat estimates by $0.07 - the largest margin in several years.

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David Penn is Senior Editor at PowerRatings.net.