The Thanksgiving holiday is approaching. In parts of the country, the weather is cool and crisp, brightly colored leaves still adorn the trees and the nation prepares for a few days of travel, family, food, football, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade and shopping.

Thanksgiving is synonymous with turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, pies, beverages and a good nap over the sound of a football game playing on television in the background. Then, maybe, a shopping spree on Black Friday to Target Corp. (TGT) or online at Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) for Cyber Monday.

The First Cut filter for this issue is very basic: We screened for exchange-listed stocks with a tie to companies set to benefit from Thanksgiving holiday-related business. Brands like Seaboard Corp.’s (SEB) Butterball turkey, Kraft Heinz Co.’s (KHC) Stove Top stuffing and General Mills Inc.’s (GIS) Green Giant green beans and Pillsbury rolls have come to signify Thanksgiving. With the various festivities involved with Thanksgiving, people will flock to grocery stores such as Albertsons Companies Inc. (ACI) for dinner classics or items like meat alternatives from Beyond Meat Inc. (BYND) or tofurky that our vegetarian friends can enjoy.

Twenty stocks made the First Cut Stocks list, and they are ranked within their industry from low to high by their forward price-earnings ratio, which divides the current stock price by the consensus expected earnings for the company’s current fiscal year and provides a sense for the expectations priced into these stocks.

A short-term picture of earnings stability and growth is provided through the display of annual earnings per share for each of the last two years, along with the expected earnings for the current fiscal year. The historical earnings growth figure over the last five years gives a longer-term perspective of bottom-line growth, while the sales growth rate does the same with strength in the top line of the income statement.

Not everybody wants to cook on Thanksgiving Day, so perhaps visiting one of Darden Restaurants Inc.’s (DRI) eateries is for you. Thanksgiving is also a busy period for ride-sharing companies like Uber Technologies Inc. (UBER) as users start ordering safe rides to and from a family get-together to celebrate the holiday responsibly.

Related

AAII How-To

Consider Earnings Estimate Surprises and Revisions

Financial Statements

Using Accruals to Judge How Persistent Earnings Will Be

Feature

Will the Real P/E Please Stand Up?