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The following are today's upgrades for Validea's Book/Market Investor model based on the published strategy of Joseph Piotroski. This value-quant strategy screens for high book-to-market stocks, and then separates out financially sound firms by looking at a host of improving financial criteria.

BREAD FINANCIAL HOLDINGS INC (BFH) is a small-cap value stock in the Consumer Financial Services industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Joseph Piotroski changed from 70% to 80% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.

Company Description: Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. is a tech-forward financial services company. The Company is engaged in providing simple, personalized payment, lending, and saving solutions. The Company through its data insights and white-label technology, it delivers a comprehensive product suite, including private label and co-brand credit cards and buy now, pay later products (split-pay). It also offers direct-to-consumer solutions that give customers more access, and freedom through its branded Bread Cashback American Express Credit Card and Bread Savings products. The Company offers both direct-to-consumer retail deposit products as well as deposits sourced through contractual arrangements with various financial counterparties (often referred to as wholesale deposits). Its products are supported by various services and capabilities, including risk management, account origination and funding services; loan processing and servicing; marketing and data and analytics; and its Enhanced Digital Suite.

The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.

Detailed Analysis of BREAD FINANCIAL HOLDINGS INC

CLEARWATER PAPER CORP (CLW) is a small-cap value stock in the Paper & Paper Products industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Joseph Piotroski changed from 0% to 80% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.

Company Description: Clearwater Paper Corporation is a manufacturer and supplier of bleached paperboard and consumer and parent roll tissue. The Company operates through two segments: Pulp and Paperboard and Consumer Products. The Company's Pulp and Paperboard segment markets and manufactures bleached paperboard for the packaging industry and is a producer of Solid Bleached Sulfate (SBS) paperboard. The Pulp and Paperboard segment produces hardwood and softwood pulp, which is primarily used as the basis for its paperboard products or transferred to its Consumer Products segment. The Consumer Products segment sells and manufactures a complete line of at-home tissue products. It is a supplier of private-label tissue to a range of retailers, including groceries, clubs, mass merchants and discount stores. It supplies bleached paperboard to printers and packaging converters and offers services that include custom sheeting, slitting, and cutting.

The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.

Detailed Analysis of CLEARWATER PAPER CORP

BAYCOM CORP (BCML) is a small-cap value stock in the Money Center Banks industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Joseph Piotroski changed from 70% to 80% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.

Company Description: BayCom Corp is a bank holding company. The Company, through its wholly owned operating subsidiary, United Business Bank (the Bank), provides a range of financial services primarily to businesses and business owners, as well as individuals, through its network of 34 full-service branches with 16 locations in California, two in Washington, five in New Mexico and 11 in Colorado. The Bank offers a full range of loans, including small business administration (SBA), farm service agency (FSA) and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) guaranteed loans, and deposit products and services to businesses and its affiliates in California, Washington, New Mexico and Colorado. The Bank is an equal housing lender and a member of Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The Bank serves small and medium-sized businesses, professional firms, real estate professionals, nonprofit businesses, labor unions and related nonprofit entities and businesses and individual consumers.

The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.

Detailed Analysis of BAYCOM CORP

About Joseph Piotroski: Piotroski isn't your typical Wall Street big shot. In fact, he's not even a professional investor. He's a good old numbers-crunching accountant and college professor. But in 2000, shortly after he started teaching at the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business, Piotroski published a groundbreaking paper in the Journal of Accounting Research entitled "Value Investing: The Use of Historical Financial Statement Information to Separate Winners from Losers". In it, Piotroski laid out an accounting-based stock-selection/shorting method that produced a 23 percent average annual back-tested return from 1976 through 1996 -- more than double the S&P 500's gain during that time. Piotroski's findings were reported in major financial publiations like SmartMoney. Today, he teaches accounting at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business.

About Validea: Validea is aninvestment researchservice that follows the published strategies of investment legends. Validea offers both stock analysis and model portfolios based on gurus who have outperformed the market over the long-term, including Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham, Peter Lynch and Martin Zweig. For more information about Validea, click here

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.