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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.

FS KKR CAPITAL CORP (FSK) is a mid-cap value stock in the Misc. Financial Services industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Joseph Piotroski changed from 60% 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: FS KKR Capital Corp. is an externally managed, non-diversified, closed-end management investment company, which regulates as a business development company (BDC). It is focused on providing customized credit solutions to private middle market United States companies. Its investment objectives are to generate current income and, to a lesser extent, long-term capital appreciation. Its portfolio is composed primarily of investments in senior secured loans and second lien secured loans of private middle market United States companies and, to a lesser extent, subordinated loans and certain asset-based financing loans of private United States companies. In addition, a portion of its portfolio may be comprised of corporate bonds, structured products, other debt securities and derivatives, including total return swaps and credit default swaps. It invests in sectors, such as financial services, commercial and professional services, among others. It is managed by FS/KKR Advisor, LLC.

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 FS KKR CAPITAL CORP

STEALTHGAS INC (GASS) is a small-cap value stock in the Water Transportation industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Joseph Piotroski changed from 90% to 100% 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: StealthGas Inc. is a provider of international seaborne transportation services to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) producers and users, as well as crude oil and product carriers to oil producers, refineries and commodities traders. The Company owns a fleet of LPG carriers. Its LPG carriers carry various petroleum gas products in liquefied form, including propane, butane, butadiene, isopropane, propylene and vinyl chloride monomer, which are all byproducts of the production of crude oil and natural gas. The medium range product carriers in its fleet are capable of carrying refined petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel, fuel oil and jet fuel, as well as edible oils and chemicals, while its Aframax tanker is used for carrying crude oil. Its fleet consists of approximately 50 LPG carriers, including two chartered-in LPG carriers, two 2008-built product carriers, a 2009-built product carrier and a 2010-built Aframax crude oil tanker.

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 STEALTHGAS INC

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.