When buying stocks, it is essential for investors to value process over outcome, says guru James O’Shaughnessy during a recent speaking engagement. This according to a recent Nasdaq article by Validea CEO John Reese.

O’Shaughnessy shares a cautionary tale of a client who would knee-jerk when the market rose or dipped, often buying or selling based on emotion rather than on fundamentals. He stresses, writes Reese, how this practice will “get you into trouble, since by the time you want to buy in most of the easy gains have been made and, conversely, once you decide to sell most of the damage has been done.”

Using the screening models Reese created based on the strategies of O’Shaughnessy and other guru investors, he identifies the following five high-scoring stocks:

• HP Inc. (HPQ) is a provider of technology, software, and related solutions and services that is favored for its cash flow-per-share and trailing 12-month sales, both of which exceed the market mean.
• ING Groep N.V. (ING) offers banking services and products in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Australia. The company earns high marks for its ratio of price-earnings to growth in earnings-per-share (PEG ratio) as well as its dividend yield of 4.93%.
• NK Lukoil PAO (ADR) (LUKOY) is an energy company involved in oil exploration, production, refining, marketing and distribution with a favorable price-sales ratio and three-year average net profit margin. Modest leverage adds appeal.
• Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) provides communication, information and entertainments products and services and earns high marks for its size, cash flow-per-share and dividend yield.
• General Motors Company (GM) designs, builds and sells cars, trucks, crossovers and automobile parts. The company’s PEG ratio is considered exceptional, along with favorable cash flow-per-share and dividend yield.