Growth stocks are attractive to many investors, as above-average financial growth helps these stocks easily grab the market's attention and produce exceptional returns. But finding a growth stock that can live up to its true potential can be a tough task.

That's because, these stocks usually carry above-average risk and volatility. In fact, betting on a stock for which the growth story is actually over or nearing its end could lead to significant loss.

However, it's pretty easy to find cutting-edge growth stocks with the help of the Zacks Growth Style Score (part of the Zacks Style Scores system), which looks beyond the traditional growth attributes to analyze a company's real growth prospects.

Energy Transfer LP (ET) is on the list of such stocks currently recommended by our proprietary system. In addition to a favorable Growth Score, it carries a top Zacks Rank.

Research shows that stocks carrying the best growth features consistently beat the market. And returns are even better for stocks that possess the combination of a Growth Score of A or B and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy).

While there are numerous reasons why the stock of this energy-related services provider is a great growth pick right now, we have highlighted three of the most important factors below:

Earnings Growth

Arguably nothing is more important than earnings growth, as surging profit levels is what most investors are after. And for growth investors, double-digit earnings growth is definitely preferable, and often an indication of strong prospects (and stock price gains) for the company under consideration.

While the historical EPS growth rate for Energy Transfer LP is 1.2%, investors should actually focus on the projected growth. The company's EPS is expected to grow 11.9% this year, crushing the industry average, which calls for EPS growth of 9.6%.

Impressive Asset Utilization Ratio

Asset utilization ratio -- also known as sales-to-total-assets (S/TA) ratio -- is often overlooked by investors, but it is an important indicator in growth investing. This metric shows how efficiently a firm is utilizing its assets to generate sales.

Right now, Energy Transfer LP has an S/TA ratio of 0.66, which means that the company gets $0.66 in sales for each dollar in assets. Comparing this to the industry average of 0.56, it can be said that the company is more efficient.

In addition to efficiency in generating sales, sales growth plays an important role. And Energy Transfer LP is well positioned from a sales growth perspective too. The company's sales are expected to grow 18.1% this year versus the industry average of 5.8%.

Story Continues

Promising Earnings Estimate Revisions

Beyond the metrics outlined above, investors should consider the trend in earnings estimate revisions. A positive trend is a plus here. Empirical research shows that there is a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements.

The current-year earnings estimates for Energy Transfer LP have been revising upward. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has surged 1.8% over the past month.

Bottom Line

Energy Transfer LP has not only earned a Growth Score of A based on a number of factors, including the ones discussed above, but it also carries a Zacks Rank #2 because of the positive earnings estimate revisions.

You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

This combination indicates that Energy Transfer LP is a potential outperformer and a solid choice for growth investors.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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