Top Stocks for May 2021

The Russell 1000 Index is a market-capitalization-weighted index of the 1,000 largest publicly traded companies in the U.S. It represents approximately 92% of the total market capitalization of all listed stocks in the U.S. equity market. For that reason, it is considered a bellwether for large-cap investing. Some of the largest companies in the index include Apple Inc. (AAPL), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), and The Walt Disney Co. (DIS). The Russell 1000, represented by the iShares Russell 1000 ETF (IWB), provided a total return of 48.9% over the past 12 months. This market performance number and all data below are as of April 29, 2021.

Here are the top 5 stocks across all sectors with the best value, the fastest growth, and the most momentum.

Value investing is a factor-based investing strategy that involves picking stocks that you believe are trading for less than what they are intrinsically worth, usually by measuring the ratio of the stock’s price to one or more fundamental business metrics. A widely accepted value metric is the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio. Value investors believe that if a business is cheap compared to its intrinsic value, in this case as measured by its P/E ratio, the stock price may rise faster than others as the price comes back in line with the worth of the company. These are the stocks with the lowest 12-month trailing P/E ratio.

Source: YCharts

• AGNC Investment Corp.: AGNC Investment is an internally-managed real estate investment trust (REIT) that primarily invests in residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) whose principal and interest payments are guaranteed by the U.S. government. The company invests on a leveraged basis and finances its holdings through collateralized borrowings structured as repurchase agreements (repos). As of March 31, 2021, ANGC maintained a portfolio of about $90.3 billion in securities. On April 26, 2021, AGNC reported net income of $975 million for its Q1 2021, having registered a $2.4 billion net loss in the same period in 2020.
• Qurate Retail Inc.: Qurate Retail is an e-commerce service company concerned with making shopping more engaging. It partners with television networks, e-commerce sites, streaming services, social pages, mobile apps, print catalogs, and in-store destinations to provide video and digital commerce services. Qurate reaches 218 million homes and operates through seven retail brands, including QVC, HSN, Zulily, and Frontgate.
• Old Republic International Corp.: Old Republic International is a holding company engaged in insurance underwriting and related services. Through subsidiaries, the company markets, underwrites, and provides risk management services for general, title, and other insurance coverages. On April 22, 2021, Old Republic published financial results for its Q1 2021, reporting that net income excluding investment gains increased by 46.5% year-over-year (YOY) to $206.3 million. This growth was driven primarily by the company’s General Insurance and Title Insurance businesses.
• White Mountains Insurance Group Ltd.:  White Mountains Insurance Group is a holding company whose subsidiaries provide insurance services. It offers property and casualty insurance and reinsurance products. On Feb. 5, 2021, the company announced its Q4 2020 financial results, with net income attributable to common shareholders coming in at $489.2 million, compared to $60.9 million in Q4 2019. The increase was largely driven by a $391 million investment gain from its interest in MediaAlpha, which completed an IPO in October 2020.
• Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc.: Bio-Rad is a healthcare company focused on life science research and clinical diagnostics products. The company sells instruments, software, reagents, and consumables for use in areas such as cell biology, gene expression, and protein purification. Bio-Rad has offices in 36 countries and over 10,000 products in circulation. On April 29, 2021, the company reported a 42.5% YOY increase in net income on net sales growth of 27.1%. A significant portion of this growth was credited to rampant demand for Bio-Rad’s products used to support COVID-19 research and testing.

These are the top stocks as ranked by a growth model that scores companies based on a 50/50 weighting of their most recent quarterly YOY percentage revenue growth and their most recent quarterly YOY earnings per share (EPS) growth. Both sales and earnings are critical factors in the success of a company. Therefore ranking companies by only one growth metric makes a ranking susceptible to the accounting anomalies of that quarter (such as changes in tax law or restructuring costs) that may make one or the other figure unrepresentative of the business in general. Companies with quarterly EPS or revenue growth of over 2,500% were excluded as outliers.

Source: YCharts

• Zoom Video Communications Inc.: Zoom Video Communications is a communications technology company that provides a video-first communication platform and web conferencing services. Its cloud platform offers video, voice, content sharing, and chat for mobile devices, desktops, telephones, and room systems. Customers can engage in one-on-one chats or conduct large-scale online events with up to 10,000 view-only attendees. On April 19, 2021, the company reported the launch of the Zoom Apps Fund, a $100 million venture fund aimed at stimulating growth of Zoom’s apps, integrations, developer platforms, and hardware. The fund will provide initial investments ranging from $250,000 to $2.5 million to portfolio companies to build solutions that improve the company’s product offerings.
• Liberty Broadband Corp.: Liberty Broadband operates and owns interests in several communications companies, including Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) and subsidiaries Skyhook and GCI, a provider of wireless, data, video, voice, and managed services to customers primarily in Alaska. Liberty Broadband is scheduled to unveil financial results for its Q1 2021 on May 7, 2021.
• Quidel Corp.: Quidel develops and manufactures diagnostic healthcare products and solutions. The company’s offerings aid in the detection and diagnosis of critical diseases and other medical conditions. On April 22, 2021, Quidel announced preliminary revenue results for its Q1 2021 in the range of $374 million to $376 million. This constitutes approximately 114% YOY gains, fueled by the shipment of roughly 15 million SARS tests during the quarter. The company reports full financial results for Q1 2021 on May 6, 2021.
• Flowers Foods Inc.: Flowers Foods produces and sells packaged bakery goods such as pastries and doughnuts. The company’s products are marketed under brand names including Nature’s Own, Dave’s Killer Bread, Wonder, Tastykake, Sara Lee, and Mrs. Freshley’s. The main markets for its products have been supermarkets, drugstores, or foodservice companies, with the remainder sold to mass merchandisers, discount and convenience stores, and others.
• The Cooper Companies Inc.: Cooper Companies is a medical device company operating through two major divisions. CooperVision produces contact lenses and CooperSurgical makes a variety of women’s health, fertility, and diagnostic products. The company sells its products in more than 100 countries and employs more than 12,000 people. Cooper Companies reported on March 24, 2021, that its board of directors elected Robert S. Weiss as chairman and William A. Kozy as vice chairman and lead director, both effective March 23, 2021. Both Weiss and Kozy previously served on the company’s board.

Momentum investing is a factor-based investing strategy that involves investing in a stock whose price has risen faster than the market as a whole. Momentum investors believe that stocks that have outperformed the market will often continue to do so because the factors that caused them to outperform will not suddenly disappear. In addition, other investors, seeking to benefit from the stock’s outperformance, will often purchase the stock, further bidding its price higher and pushing the stock higher still. These are the stocks that had the highest total return over the last 12 months.

Source: YCharts

• L Brands Inc.: L Brands is a specialty retail business focused on women’s intimate and other apparel, personal care, and beauty categories. The company aims to redefine “what it means to be sought-after” and offers products through brands including Bath & Body Works, Victoria’s Secret, and PINK.
• Tesla Inc.: Tesla is the world’s largest automaker by market value, with a market cap of about $683 billion, and is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of electric vehicles. The company designs and manufactures fully electric vehicles, including luxury and mass-market sedans and trucks. It also is a clean energy company and produces solar energy generation and energy storage products. On April 26, 2021, Tesla published financial results for its Q1 2021, revealing a 2,638% rise in YOY net income attributable to common stockholders, as well as a 74% YOY improvement in revenue. The quarter marked the company’s highest-ever vehicle production and delivery rates.
• Freeport-McMoRan Inc.: Freeport-McMoRan is an international mining company that produces copper, gold, and molybdenum. It mines a large copper and gold mining deposit in Indonesia, plus has major operations in North and South America. On April 22, 2021, the company reported net income attributable to common stock of $718 million for its Q1 2021, compared to net losses of $491 million one year prior. Revenues increased by 73.3% YOY.
• Square Inc.: Square is a financial services and online payments company. It provides merchants with hardware solutions for processing debit and credit card transactions, as well as point-of-sale and other payment and business-management software. The company also provides a Cash App for individual consumers, enabling them to easily send and receive money and access other financial services.
• Gap Inc.: Gap is a global retailer of apparel, accessories, and personal care products, with brands including Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic, Athleta, and Intermix. On March 25, 2021, Gap announced plans to sell children’s fashion line Janie and Jack to Go Global Retail, an investment platform in the fashion and consumer brand sector. Janie and Jack has roughly 115 store locations and an e-commerce presence. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed at the time of the press release.

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