Research Article

AN EXPLAINABLE MACHINE LEARNING APPROACH USING FUNDAMENTAL RATIOS FOR STOCK RETURN PREDICTION AND PORTFOLIO REBALANCING

Volume: 29 Number: 3 September 3, 2026
TR EN

AN EXPLAINABLE MACHINE LEARNING APPROACH USING FUNDAMENTAL RATIOS FOR STOCK RETURN PREDICTION AND PORTFOLIO REBALANCING

Abstract

This research develops an explainable ensemble learning framework to forecast stocks’ market-relative performance and guide portfolio rebalancing in Borsa Istanbul (BIST). The analysis covers quarterly data from 20 firms between 2009-Q1 and 2025-Q1 and employs Random Forest, XGBoost, LightGBM, and CatBoost trained on thirteen financial ratios. Hyperparameters are selected using grid search with time-series cross-validation, and performance is evaluated out-of-sample. Portfolios are rebalanced quarterly using predicted returns and benchmarked against an equally weighted portfolio and the BIST 100 Index. Results show that model-based portfolios generally outperform benchmarks in total return and risk-adjusted performance, with stronger statistically supported results in broader Top-k configurations, particularly CatBoost Top-7. SHAP identifies profitability and valuation indicators, especially return on assets, return on equity, and key valuation ratios, as the main drivers of future stock performance. These findings support explainable ensemble learning for fundamental-based portfolio management in emerging markets.

Keywords

Supporting Institution

Tubitak

Project Number

3230482

Ethical Statement

This research was supported by the project titled "Sosyal Medya, Haber, Temel ve Teknik Analizleri Dikkate Alan Makine Öğrenmesi Temelli Hisse Senedi Yatırım Tavsiye Platformu" funded by the TUBITAK TEYDEB program under Project Number 3230482.

References

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Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Deep Learning, Data Engineering and Data Science

Journal Section

Research Article

Publication Date

September 3, 2026

Submission Date

October 22, 2025

Acceptance Date

June 24, 2026

Published in Issue

Year 2026 Volume: 29 Number: 3

APA
Etcil, M., Kolukisa, B., & Güngör, B. (2026). AN EXPLAINABLE MACHINE LEARNING APPROACH USING FUNDAMENTAL RATIOS FOR STOCK RETURN PREDICTION AND PORTFOLIO REBALANCING. Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam Üniversitesi Mühendislik Bilimleri Dergisi, 29(3), 1004-1019. https://izlik.org/JA75SH66HP
AMA
1.Etcil M, Kolukisa B, Güngör B. AN EXPLAINABLE MACHINE LEARNING APPROACH USING FUNDAMENTAL RATIOS FOR STOCK RETURN PREDICTION AND PORTFOLIO REBALANCING. KSU J. Eng. Sci. 2026;29(3):1004-1019. https://izlik.org/JA75SH66HP
Chicago
Etcil, Mustafa, Burak Kolukisa, and Burcu Güngör. 2026. “AN EXPLAINABLE MACHINE LEARNING APPROACH USING FUNDAMENTAL RATIOS FOR STOCK RETURN PREDICTION AND PORTFOLIO REBALANCING”. Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam Üniversitesi Mühendislik Bilimleri Dergisi 29 (3): 1004-19. https://izlik.org/JA75SH66HP.
EndNote
Etcil M, Kolukisa B, Güngör B (September 1, 2026) AN EXPLAINABLE MACHINE LEARNING APPROACH USING FUNDAMENTAL RATIOS FOR STOCK RETURN PREDICTION AND PORTFOLIO REBALANCING. Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam Üniversitesi Mühendislik Bilimleri Dergisi 29 3 1004–1019.
IEEE
[1]M. Etcil, B. Kolukisa, and B. Güngör, “AN EXPLAINABLE MACHINE LEARNING APPROACH USING FUNDAMENTAL RATIOS FOR STOCK RETURN PREDICTION AND PORTFOLIO REBALANCING”, KSU J. Eng. Sci., vol. 29, no. 3, pp. 1004–1019, Sept. 2026, [Online]. Available: https://izlik.org/JA75SH66HP
ISNAD
Etcil, Mustafa - Kolukisa, Burak - Güngör, Burcu. “AN EXPLAINABLE MACHINE LEARNING APPROACH USING FUNDAMENTAL RATIOS FOR STOCK RETURN PREDICTION AND PORTFOLIO REBALANCING”. Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam Üniversitesi Mühendislik Bilimleri Dergisi 29/3 (September 1, 2026): 1004-1019. https://izlik.org/JA75SH66HP.
JAMA
1.Etcil M, Kolukisa B, Güngör B. AN EXPLAINABLE MACHINE LEARNING APPROACH USING FUNDAMENTAL RATIOS FOR STOCK RETURN PREDICTION AND PORTFOLIO REBALANCING. KSU J. Eng. Sci. 2026;29:1004–1019.
MLA
Etcil, Mustafa, et al. “AN EXPLAINABLE MACHINE LEARNING APPROACH USING FUNDAMENTAL RATIOS FOR STOCK RETURN PREDICTION AND PORTFOLIO REBALANCING”. Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam Üniversitesi Mühendislik Bilimleri Dergisi, vol. 29, no. 3, Sept. 2026, pp. 1004-19, https://izlik.org/JA75SH66HP.
Vancouver
1.Mustafa Etcil, Burak Kolukisa, Burcu Güngör. AN EXPLAINABLE MACHINE LEARNING APPROACH USING FUNDAMENTAL RATIOS FOR STOCK RETURN PREDICTION AND PORTFOLIO REBALANCING. KSU J. Eng. Sci. [Internet]. 2026 Sep. 1;29(3):1004-19. Available from: https://izlik.org/JA75SH66HP

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