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3rd Quarter Results

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3rd Quarter Results

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  • 7 Long-Term Stocks To Buy You’ll Want To Hang Onto

    When you start hearing about day trading at volume, you know the markets have gotten frothy and buying and holding long-term stocks isn’t a top priority for investors. But times like these are precisely when it should be. Trying to time trades is tricky business, even for Wall Street bigshots who have been trading for decades with state of the art equipment and a lifetime of institutional knowledge – and occasionally an advanced degree in mathematics. Trying to outsmart these people or play their game over the long term might be entertaining, but if your goal is to make money, I wouldn’t bother. Finding companies with solid fundamentals in key industries and buying for the long-term might be boring, but it makes money.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips 9 Stocks That Investors Think Are the Next Amazon Here are 7 long-term stocks to buy you’ll want to hang onto: Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) Clorox (NYSE:CLX) JD.com (NASDAQ:JD) PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) Shopify (NASDAQ:SHOP) Sony (NYSE:SNE) These companies deserve your attention for the future because of how well they’ve handled the past. Long-term Stocks To Buy: Amazon (AMZN) Source: Sundry Photography / Shutterstock.com There are few companies that can turn into a global retail brand the way AMZN has done. From a humble online bookseller in the 1990s to market juggernaut in just three decades, Amazon has been on quite the journey. Now it’s hard for most Americans to imagine a day that doesn’t somehow involve an Amazon product. Whole Foods for grocery shopping (if you’re not buying supplies off its website). Prime for watching shows and movies. Of course, its bread-and-butter retail and logistics operations. And of course, cloud computing behemoth Amazon Web Services provides plenty of cash to keep all its new and existing ventures running. When the pandemic hit, everyone realized how valuable AMZN had become. But its value is much more now, as it holds a nearly $1.6 trillion market cap. It is kind of a one-stock index of the entire modern economy. If you’re a long-term bull on the U.S., AMZN is a long-term stock for you. Up 70% in the past year, its pace may vary but its continued growth isn’t in question. Clorox (CLX) Source: TY Lim / Shutterstock.com This company’s beginnings stand almost in direct opposition to that of AMZN. CLX made one product, bleach, for nearly 50 years and built a big business out of it. Now more than 100 years old, CLX has diversified its product line a bit, though not significantly. Now it has a portfolio of around 50 brands that are sold in over 100 countries. Reliable names like Glad, Handi Wipes, Liquid-Plumr, Pine-Sol and Tilex along with its titular Clorox line. This is a classic long-term US stock. During the pandemic, cleaning and disinfecting products have been in high demand at home and abroad. CLX stock remains rock solid. And that’s to be expected after growing through two World Wars, the Great Depression and everything else that has come its way. 9 Stocks That Investors Think Are the Next Amazon Up 24% in the past 12 months, it’s still trading at a P/E of 21 — below the average forward P/E of the S&P 500 — with plenty of growth ahead. JD.com (JD) Source: Sundry Photography / Shutterstock.com The growth of digital channels in the U.S. is mirrored in China, where its domestic market is almost an order of magnitude larger than U.S. market. The potential is huge. Also, the Chinese market operates a bit differently than the U.S. Large companies tend to work with each other to leverage their most important assets rather than try to compete head to head. But they also diversify. For example, JD is like the AMZN of China (and other Asian nations). It has expanded into logistics, AI, fintech and other sectors. Yet for all of its strength, it trades at one-tenth the market cap of AMZN and that’s after a 127% run in the past 12 months. Certainly there’s some trade risk here, as the U.S. threatens to delist Chinese firms from U.S. exchanges, but JD is far down that list. This is a top long-term stock for the China’s and Asia’s consumers. PayPal (PYPL) Source: JHVEPhoto / Shutterstock.com This is the company that launched Elon Musk before he became the maverick CEO we all know today. Even back then Musk was a handful, getting deposed as CEO after a couple years but still holding more stock than anyone else when eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) purchased PYPL in 2002. That became the seed capital for Musk’s later ventures. But beyond the personality, PYPL is a pioneer in electronic payments and now in peer-to-peer (P2P) payments with its Venmo app. Time and again Wall Street has dismissed PYPL as not having the kind of financial reputation or muscle to take on the big financial institutions in the digital space. And time and again, PYPL has proven them wrong. The past year has been a boon for PYPL’s model and has showed that big banks weren’t altogether ready for the quick and massive shift to digital. And PYPL now has credit services as well as other payment platforms. 9 Stocks That Investors Think Are the Next Amazon The stock is up over 113% in the past 12 months and it’s now here to stay. Qualcomm (QCOM) Source: jejim / Shutterstock.com We’re well ensconced in the Mobility Age at this point. By that I mean what started as the digital revolution has now moved to the point where wireless networks keep us connected nearly all the time, much to some people’s chagrin. But the fact is, despite the downsides, there are plenty of upsides too. And now that 5G telecom tech is upon us, data will be flowing even faster than before. One the beneficiaries and leaders in pushing digital mobility further is QCOM, one of the world’s leading telecom companies. Its business model is unique because it develops chips and telecom equipment but makes money licensing the technology for others to manufacture and also taking a cut of sales. Both U.S. and Chinese (and others) phone makers rely on state of the art QCOM chips, especially for 5G. QCOM just signed a new deal to rekindle relations with Chinese phone makers earlier this week. As long as mobility is a thing, this is a long-term stock to own. The stock is up 75% in the past 12 months, yet the stock is trading at a P/E of 35. Shopify (SHOP) Source: Paul McKinnon / Shutterstock.com With unemployment nearing 6.7% and many states admitting that the pandemic has hampered their ability to accurately count the unemployed, there are a lot of Americans trying to figure out how to bring in a paycheck. Many have turned to driving Uber or Lyft, although passenger numbers are down significantly now as well. And taxis are even worse. That has led many to try their hands at turning their hobbies into businesses. And that’s where SHOP comes in. It’s a cloud-based platform that helps small and mid-sized business build out professional websites. The stock is up nearly 1000% over the past three years, and much of that has come in the past two years, as the economy has slowed. Vaccines may be on the way, and the government is working through another stimulus package, but the damage done to the economy has yet to be seen clearly given all the other issues facing the nation. 9 Stocks That Investors Think Are the Next Amazon This stock is up 167% in the past year and has plenty of potential growth ahead. Sony (SNE) Source: Girts Ragelis / Shutterstock.com Launched in 1946 in Japan, SNE has been known to every generation since for various electronics. For decades, SNE made the best televisions in the world after launching the first all-transistor television in 1959 and taking the global television market by storm. Then came the video generation. Then the Walkman generation, when SNE defined personal, portable music. And now, it’s the PlayStation videogame system. Along the way, it has moved into the entertainment industry, on both the content and equipment sides. Its contributions to our electronic era are practically too numerous to list and Sony continues to be a formidable player. The thing is, it generally cuts a low profile. SNE stock is currently up more than 43% in the past 12 months, yet trades at a P/E below 15. This durable, quality electronics firm may not garner headlines, but it still is a revered and important brand, generation after generation. Disclosure: On the date of publication, Louis Navellier had positions in AMZN, CLX, JD, PYPL and SHOP in this article. Louis Navellier did not have (either directly or indirectly) any other positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The InvestorPlace Research Staff member primarily responsible for this article did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. Louis Navellier had an unconventional start, as a grad student who accidentally built a market-beating stock system — with returns rivaling even Warren Buffett. In his latest feat, Louis discovered the “Master Key” to profiting from the biggest tech revolution of this (or any) generation. More From InvestorPlace Why Everyone Is Investing in 5G All WRONG Top Stock Picker Reveals His Next 1,000% Winner It doesn’t matter if you have $500 in savings or $5 million. Do this now. The post 7 Long-Term Stocks To Buy You’ll Want To Hang Onto appeared first on InvestorPlace.

  • FuelCell Energy’s Got a $1.5 Billion Problem

    I recently suggested that if you could only invest in one clean energy stock — FuelCell Energy (NASDAQ:FCEL) or Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG) — I would go with PLUG over FCEL stock. Source: Kaca Skokanova/Shutterstock That was before I even realized that Plug Power had snagged a $1.5 billion investment from SK Group, one of South Korea’s largest conglomerates. A week on from Plug Power’s announcement, which saw PLUG jump 33% on the news, I don’t think there’s any question it’s the better buy.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips That said, FCEL stock has benefited from Plug Power’s good fortune. It’s up 43% since the Jan. 6 announcement. 7 Dividend Stocks That Are Growing Their Payouts If you’re thinking about riding FuelCell’s momentum, you might want to consider what Plug Power’s financial windfall means for both companies before jumping on the FCEL bandwagon. FCEL Stock Is Up 591% Since Mid-November In two months, owners of FCEL stock have the equivalent of an annualized return of 3,500%. I don’t think there’s any way to sugar coat this other than to say that buyers of its stock have done unbelievably well for such a short investment period. While you’ll have to pay regular income-tax rates on your short-term capital gains if you were to sell at this point, you’ll still make out like a bandit. There’s no shame in taking profits. You might also want to consider that Jefferies analyst Laurence Alexander initiated coverage of the provider of fuel cell solutions on Jan. 7 with a hold rating and an $11 target price. “The ‘stars aligned for FuelCell Energy’ in 2020, given favorable policy shifts in favor of renewables and hydrogen production, progress on the company’s own growth pivot and ESG fund flows, Alexander tells investors,” The Fly.com reported. “However, now the strong secular trends, ‘tighter operating culture’ and ‘war chest’ for longer-term growth appear largely discounted in the stock price, Alexander argues.” InvestorPlace’s Matt McCall recently discussed the so-called war chest that Alexander wrote about in his FuelCell stock assessment. In December, FuelCell sold 25 million shares at just $6.50 per share, raising $162.50 million in the process. More important than the company’s willingness to sell shares at $6.50, a 36% discount to its Nov. 30 share price, is the fact that Orion Energy Partners, who owned 5.9% of FCEL stock before the offering, were willing to sell down 84% of their position at the discounted price. While it’s not unheard of for a company such as Orion, which lends and makes investments to the energy industry, to want to exit its position, to do so at such a discount ought to make you scratch your head a little. Even more so now that FCEL is trading above $18 as I write this, up more than 15% on the day. I would not be surprised if we were to experience an exhaustion gap in the second half of January. Plug Power Has Stronger Backing If Plug Power didn’t have a better roster of shareholders than FuelCell Energy before its announcement that SK Group was taking a 9.9% stake in the company, it certainly does now. SK Group had revenue in 2019 of $119 billion, making it the 73rd largest company in the Fortune Global 500. In 2019, Plug Power had revenues of $230 million. Of SK Group’s total revenue, its energy and chemicals business accounts for almost half the conglomerate’s total. The company is in the process of moving away from a reliance on fossil fuels. “Mr. Chey has ordered a sweeping readjustment of SK’s portfolio to be completed within the next three years. This will include carving off carbon-intensive businesses and doubling down on the company’s multibillion-dollar bets across EVs, computer chips, biotechnology and renewable energy,” the Financial Times reported in November 2020. “‘The era of competing for scale is now behind us . . . We want to be the best company in the ESG realm,’ Jang Dong-hyun, president of SK Holdings, which helps oversee SK’s 125 affiliates, told the Financial Times in an interview.” This was before the Plug Power investment that will also see the two companies form a strategic joint-venture partnership to hydrogen fuel cell systems and hydrogen fueling stations to the Asian market. As I stated in my latest article about Plug Power, it plans to hit $1 billion in revenue by 2024. With $2.1 billion in a backlog and SK Group in tow, I see the odds of success getting higher by the day. This doesn’t even consider that Plug Power could soon have Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Walmart (NYSE:WMT) as shareholders and not just customers. By comparison, FuelCell’s largest shareholders are CVI Holdings at 5.9%, BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) at 4.4%, and Lawrence I. Rosen at 3.7%. I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather have Plug Power’s trio of shareholders backing up its share price than what FCEL brings to the table. The Bottom Line The latest deal with SK Group is proof that CEO Andy Marsh’s plans to grow Plug Power are working. While both stocks are exceedingly expensive, PLUG is the growth stock you should opt for. On the date of publication, Will Ashworth did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. Will Ashworth has written about investments full-time since 2008. Publications where he’s appeared include InvestorPlace, The Motley Fool Canada, Investopedia, Kiplinger, and several others in both the U.S. and Canada. He particularly enjoys creating model portfolios that stand the test of time. He lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia. At the time of this writing Will Ashworth did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. More From InvestorPlace Why Everyone Is Investing in 5G All WRONG Top Stock Picker Reveals His Next 1,000% Winner It doesn’t matter if you have $500 in savings or $5 million. Do this now. The post FuelCell Energy’s Got a $1.5 Billion Problem appeared first on InvestorPlace.

  • 3 tax breaks included Biden's economic 'rescue plan'

    President-elect Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion “rescue plan” released on Thursday calls for three key tax improvements for 2021 that would help Americans across the income spectrum.

  • 10 Smart Stocks to Buy With $5,000

    If you’re looking to build a portfolio of stocks to buy with just $5,000, the advent of fractional share ownership has made it a whole lot easier. Google the words “fractional share portfolios,” and you get 527,000 results with everything from reviews on seven of the best fractional share investing brokerages to links to some of the leading players in this burgeoning area of the markets. Many think of Robinhood when they think fractional, but the truth is almost every major online broker in this country’s got some offering or service.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips Heck, I can remember years ago, when FolioFN was the only game in town. Launched in 2000, it was acquired by Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) in May 2020. FolioFN’s self-directed accounts are scheduled to be transferred to Interactive Brokers (NASDAQ:IBKR) early in 2021. In the meantime, for those who don’t want to do the work of constructing a $5,000 portfolio of stocks to buy, here are 10 recommendations to help get you started. Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) SVB Financial (NASDAQ:SIVB) Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A, NYSE:BRK.B) Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Thor Industries (NYSE:THO) 9 Stocks That Investors Think Are the Next Amazon Their share prices will add up to $5,000 or less. To make things interesting, all 10 stocks must have share prices exceeding $100. Stocks to Buy: Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) $1,740 Source: BigTunaOnline / Shutterstock.com It’s funny, I had intended to include Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) in my list of 10 stocks to buy, but given I was limiting my names to those companies with shares prices greater than $100, the e-commerce giant’s $3,166 share price would have made it awfully hard to fit nine more under $5,000. So I went with Alphabet, a company I didn’t write about at all in 2020, but helps me achieve my task. InvestorPlace’s Mark Hake recently suggested that rising ad sales make it an attractive investment in 2021. My colleague compares Google to the valuations of Apple, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), and Amazon. He reckons that Google should have a similar valuation to the three companies at $1.43 trillion or 6.7 times sales. As I write this, Google’s market capitalization is $1.18 trillion, 17% below Hake’s simple calculation, which puts its share price at $2,112 per share. I like the upside. Tesla (TSLA) $845 Source: franz12 / Shutterstock.com The second-highest share price in our $5,000 portfolio, we can thank Elon Musk for doing a five-for-one stock split in August 2020. Without it, TSLA would take up 86% of our investment capital. I’m an unabashed Tesla fan, so I’m not going to give you reasons why the valuation is over-the-top, although there’s no question it puts all the other large car companies to shame with its $810 billion market cap. InvestorPlace contributor Matt McCall recently gave investors some wise advice regarding the electric vehicle (EV) maker. McCall believes that rather than griping about the price you have to pay for its shares, embrace the fact that even the mighty Tesla has corrections, so buy like crazy on the rare occasion that it happens. To illustrate his point, McCall references its pullback in September 2020, shortly after its stock split. On Aug. 31, it was trading just under $500. In a week, it fell 34% after Tesla was left off the annual additions list for the S&P 500. 7 Cheap Stocks to Buy as Democrats Gain Control Ultimately, Tesla was added to the index on Dec. 31. As money managers added TSLA to their portfolios, it moved even higher. Nvidia (NVDA) $528 Source: Hairem / Shutterstock.com If you’re one of the lucky investors who joined the Nvidia bandwagon five years ago when it was trading around $26, you’re sitting on an annualized total return of more than 79% through Jan. 13. It’s crazy to think that things can get any better for NVDA shareholders over the next five years. Still, they actually could, given the growth in gaming, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence. As my InvestorPlace colleague, Faizan Farooque, recently stated, you most certainly won’t be buying Nvidia if you’re a value investor — it trades at 45 times its forward earnings, far higher than many of its peers — but when it can grow sales at 50% a quarter and continue to beat analyst expectations, it most certainly deserves a premium valuation. In June 2019, I argued that Nvidia’s free cash flow made it a great stock to buy on dips. At the time, it had lost about half of its value over nine months — October 2018 to June 2019 — and was trading around $145. Some 18 months later, it’s up almost four-fold and generating more than $4.2 billion in 12-month free cash flow. Buy some now and wait for the next big dip. It’s bound to happen sooner or later, no matter the near-term prospects. SVB Financial (SIVB) $465 Source: Pavel Kapysh / Shutterstock.com I’m not going to say too much about SVB Financial because it’s one of those bank stocks to buy that you have to get to know for yourself to understand why it’s so special. You wouldn’t think this was the case by the analyst coverage of its stock. At the moment, 21 analysts cover SIVB, with eight rating it a buy and 12 a hold with an average price target of $424.49. Sure, it’s come a long way over the past year compared to its peers — it has a one-year total return of 74.2% — but that’s because investors recognize that the bank’s laser-like focus on providing lending, asset management, and banking services to innovators and entrepreneurs will always be in demand. Recently, it announced that it would pay $900 million to buy Boston Private Financial Holdings (NASDAQ:BPFH) for a combination of cash and stock. The Boston-based private bank specializes in wealth management and other banking services. Together, SVB Financial’s wealth management business will have almost $18 billion in assets under management. The 7 Best Marijuana Stocks on the Markets Right Now Continue to ignore SIVB at your peril. Roku (ROKU) $418 Source: JHVEPhoto / Shutterstock.com The streaming platform has gotten off to a hot start in 2021, up 26% year-to-date and more than 205% over the past 52 weeks. Roku and HBO Max parent, Warner Media, buried their longstanding disagreement recently by announcing that the streaming service would be available on Roku as of Dec. 17, 2020. By getting a spot on Roku, HBO Max is now on all the major over-the-top platforms. “We believe that all entertainment will be streamed and we are thrilled to partner with HBO Max to bring their incredible library of iconic entertainment brands and blockbuster slate of direct-to-streaming theatrical releases to the Roku households with more than 100 million people that have made Roku the No. 1 TV streaming platform in America,” Scott Rosenberg, SVP of Roku’s platform business, said in a statement. The key part of the above statement is that Roku believes that all entertainment will eventually be streamed. I couldn’t agree more. That’s why I recommended ROKU stock in December 2017 and still recommend it among stocks to buy in 2021. Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) $235 Source: Jonathan Weiss / Shutterstock.com I recently read an article about the reasons why Warren Buffett failed in 2020. This kind of analysis of the Oracle of Omaha has been going on for years, possibly as long as Buffett’s been investing in stocks to buy. Yes, Berkshire Hathaway severely underperformed the S&P 500 in 2020 — up 2.5% versus 16.5% for the index — but I’ve always believed that the biggest boost to BRK stock will come when the holding company has to be methodically wound down due to the passing of Buffett and Charlie Munger. Consider that its equity portfolio, which is massive at $271 billion, represents just one-third of Berkshire’s assets at the end of September 2020. I can assure you that the true value of the $418 billion or so in privately-owned assets on its balance sheet is worth far more than this. When the time comes to wind it down, the board will do what’s necessary to ensure fair value is obtained for every business. It’s possible the process could take a decade or more. The 7 Best Startups You Can Buy on StartEngine Right Now When people say that Warren Buffett has lost his touch, they forget that the final tally has not been given. Not by a longshot. Dollar General (DG) $213 Source: Jonathan Weiss / Shutterstock.com It’s not a secret that Dollar General caters to customers that don’t have a tremendous amount of disposable income. It probably also doesn’t come as a surprise that its employees aren’t flush with cash, so the fact that it will pay those of its 157,000 employees who get a vaccine four hours of pay is noble. And smart business. “‘We do not want our employees to have to choose between receiving a vaccine or coming to work,’ Dollar General (DG) said in a press release, noting that its hourly workers face hurdles to getting vaccinated, such as travel time, gas mileage or childcare needs.” If there’s a retailer that has done well during Covid-19, Dollar General would have to be at the top of the list. In early December, Dollar General reported Q3 2020 results that included 12.2% same-store sales growth and a 62.7% increase in earnings per share. As a result, it’s passed on a total of $173 million in 2020 for employee appreciation bonuses. As it continues to open more stores while simultaneously growing its gross margins, the fact that it remembered that its employees are the ones who deliver this good fortune to shareholders is a big reason why DG stock will continue to move higher in 2021. Apple (AAPL) $130 Source: Hadrian / Shutterstock.com Most of the talk around AAPL stock right now revolves around its long-simmering Project Titan and its efforts around delivering its own autonomous electric vehicle. The Verge recently reported that Apple held discussions in 2020 with Canoo (NASDAQ:GOEV), the EV startup using a platform based on a skateboard to provide a much better cabin design for its future vehicles. Canoo apparently just wanted some investment capital. Apple, on the other hand, was thinking more about acquiring the business and integrating it into its existing work in this area. The two didn’t come to an agreement. Canoo went public and Apple’s now working with Hyundai (OTCMKTS:HYMTF) on getting a self-driving EV to market by 2024. Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives recently suggested that Apple could be worth $3 trillion by sometime in 2022 due to strong iPhone 12 sales. He projects it could sell as many as 250 million in 2021. “If Apple continues to execute at this pace, a $3 trillion market cap could be on the horizon over the 12 to 18 months,” Ives is reported to have said. 7 Dividend Stocks That Are Growing Their Payouts As I write this, it’s at $2.2 trillion. Williams-Sonoma (WSM) $125 Source: designs by Jack / Shutterstock.com Several news outlets reported that the retailer’s CEO, Laura Alber, sold some Williams-Sonoma stock just before Christmas. Don’t be alarmed; it was only 15,000 shares or 3.5% of her total holdings. And it was part of her Rule 10b5-1 trading plan started in September 2019. As I always like to say, even wealthy CEOs have bills to pay. Over the past year, Williams-Sonoma stock has delivered a total return of 61.4% for its shareholders, including Alber. That’s double the returns of the specialty retail sector as a whole and three times the entire U.S. markets’ performance. In June 2016, I called WSM one of the best retail stocks to buy due to its excellent omnichannel experience. Going on five years later, nothing’s changed about that assertion. During Covid-19, business at the retailer has been full-speed ahead. Here’s what I said about it in December: “It’s got a business that’s ideally balanced between online and brick-and-mortar sales. In the second quarter, it generated 76% of its sales online; in Q3, due to the novel coronavirus constraints, its online sales accounted for 70% of its total revenue — while growing by almost 50% over last year– and that’s during a pandemic,” I said on Dec. 9. “More importantly, its Q3 profits were through the roof — up 151% to $2.56 a share thanks to significantly higher margins — and that was only through Nov. 1. It doesn’t include Black Friday and Cyber Monday.” The world’s going digital, and that’s good news for Williams-Sonoma. Thor Industries (THO) $105 Source: Angel DiBilio / Shutterstock.com There is no question that 2020 was good for recreational vehicle manufacturers such as Thor Industries, as people young and old sought the great outdoors, away from the maddening, Covid-19 crowd. The problem for investors who’ve followed the RV industry for any length of time is that the good times never seem to last. In the case of the novel coronavirus, once vaccines make humans comfortable with packing together in large crowds, the great outdoors won’t be nearly as enticing as Paris or Australia. That being said, the latest push into RVs may be coming from a sub-set of consumers who might actually take to the open road. “All dealers are reporting a high mix of first-time buyers as evident by lack of trade-in units,” said Wells Fargo analyst Tim Conder in a July 15, 2020 note. “Dealers are saying as high as 80% of customers are first-time buyers … vs. the typical 25% mix. The pandemic is driving the purchase decision for new-entrants.” If even half of those first-time buyers stick around long enough to upgrade to a bigger or better model, Thor Industries might not have to worry about the eventual downturn. To me, THO is one of the perfect stocks to buy for the long haul, buying more whenever it corrects by more than 5-10%. On the date of publication, Will Ashworth did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. Will Ashworth has written about investments full-time since 2008. Publications where he’s appeared include InvestorPlace, The Motley Fool Canada, Investopedia, Kiplinger, and several others in both the U.S. and Canada. He particularly enjoys creating model portfolios that stand the test of time. He lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia. At the time of this writing Will Ashworth did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. More From InvestorPlace Why Everyone Is Investing in 5G All WRONG Top Stock Picker Reveals His Next 1,000% Winner It doesn’t matter if you have $500 in savings or $5 million. Do this now. The post 10 Smart Stocks to Buy With $5,000 appeared first on InvestorPlace.

  • This crypto startup is offering 8.6% interest on savings accounts — 123 times the national average

    At 8.6% interest on its savings accounts, crypto fintech platform BlockFi is offering an interesting option for savers disappointed with low rates.

  • 5 Electric Vehicle ETFs Getting a Big Biden Boost

    With stocks such as Nio (NYSE:NIO) and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) in the midst of seemingly undaunted ascents, electric vehicle ETFs are among the examples of thematic exchange traded funds stepping into the spotlight. For many investors, particularly those priced out of Tesla or those new to this space, electric vehicle ETFs make a lot of sense. The funds remove the need for investors to identify the best individual names, over diversity and many lack significant exposure to some of the more challenged EV stocks. Additionally, these thematic ETFs make for ideal plays on the Biden Administration’s renewable energy priorities, including the president-elect’s goal of building 550,000 EV charging stations over the next decade, which would reduce concerns about time in between charges, likely boosting EV demand in the process.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips 9 Stocks That Investors Think Are the Next Amazon The new president probably won’t be able to put an EV in every driveway, at least not anytime soon, but this administration and Congress are viewed as hospitable to the auto industries electric evolution and that could benefit the following electric vehicle ETFs. Global X Autonomous & Electric Vehicles (NASDAQ:DRIV) KraneShares Electric Vehicles & Future Mobility ETF (NYSEARCA:KARS) SPDR Kensho Smart Mobility ETF (NYSEARCA:HAIL) iShares Self-Driving EV and Tech ETF (NYSEARCA:IDRV) Global X Lithium & Battery Technology ETF (NYSE:LIT) Electric Vehicle ETFs: Global X Autonomous & Electric Vehicles ETF (DRIV) Source: Grisha Bruev / Shutterstock.com Expense ratio: 0.68%, or $68 annually on a $10,000 investment The Global X Autonomous & Electric Vehicles ETF is reflective of the newness of the EV investing concept. DRIV turns three years old in April and is one of the oldest ETFs in this category. With $311.20 million in assets under management, it’s also one of the largest. DRIV holds 76 stocks, which is a fairly deep bench for an electric vehicle ETF and none of its holdings exceed a weight of 5.16%. Tesla and Nio are DRIV’s largest and third-largest holdings, respectively, combining for about 8% of the ETF’s roster. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) are also found among the fund’s top 10 holdings. Exposure to those two traditional tech names is another indication of DRIV’s depth – the ETF features exposure to five sectors led by consumer cyclical and technology. DRIV is also geographically diverse as stocks from a roughly a dozen countries are represented in the fund. Positioned as an EV ETF, DRIV offers surprising depth into the broader renewable energy ecosystem and is a credible avenue for EV derivatives (think semiconductors). KraneShares Electric Vehicles & Future Mobility ETF (KARS) Source: Shutterstock Expense ratio: 0.72% KraneShares is usually known for its nifty lineup of China and emerging markets funds, but investors shouldn’t sleep on the KraneShares Electric Vehicles & Future Mobility ETF. KARS turns three years old next week and has $101.40 million, confirming there’s room for competition in the electric vehicle ETF arena. KARS tracks the Solactive Electric Vehicles and Future Mobility Index and similar to the aforementioned DRIV, the KraneShares fund goes beyond vehicle manufacturers to touch multiple corners of the EV landscape. In fact, Tesla isn’t a KARS component and five of its top 10 holdings, including Nvidia, are semiconductor equities. KARS capitalizes on KraneShares strong China competency as many of the ETF’s holdings, including Nio, are Chinese companies. That’s relevant to investors because the world’s second-largest economy is the biggest EV market. SPDR Kensho Smart Mobility ETF (HAIL) Source: xiaorui / Shutterstock.com Expense ratio: 0.45% The SPDR Kensho Smart Mobility ETF isn’t a dedicated electric vehicle fund. Rather, it’s a broad based play that’s arguably the most futuristic transportation ETF on the market. Looking for old guard airlines, freight haulers and railroad operators? Look elsewhere because HAIL delivers transportation’s tomorrow today. The underlying benchmark, the S&P Kensho Smart Transportation Index, provides exposure to “the areas of autonomous and connected vehicle technology, drones and drone technologies used for commercial and civilian applications, and advanced transportation tracking and transport optimization systems,” according to State Street. Home to 59 stocks, HAIL offers an expansive lineup that features EV manufacturers, such as Nio and Tesla, charging station operators, auto parts makers and semiconductor producers. Overall, more than 20 industry groups are represented in this SPDR ETF and its 0.45% expense ratio is among the lowest in the category. iShares Self-Driving EV and Tech ETF (IDRV) Source: pio3 / Shutterstock.com Expense ratio: 0.47% The iShares Self-Driving EV and Tech ETF follows the FactSet Global Autonomous Driving and Electric Vehicle Index and is one of the more basic EV ETFs on the market, but that’s not a slight because the iShares fund is higher by 67.4% over the past year, IDRV’s roster makes for an easy comp with the aforementioned DRIV as the iShares fund features allocations to Tesla and Nio as well as Apple and Nvidia. However, the rivals aren’t mirror images of each other because the Global X fund sharply outperformed its iShares competitor over the past year while IDRV offers a much lower fee. IDRV offers a bit more depth with 100 components, but the bottom line in this mini rivalry is that investors shouldn’t not hold both ETFs at the same time because there’s too much overlap. Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF (LIT) Source: Lightboxx/ShutterStock.com Expense ratio: 0.75% The Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF was an EV ETF before there were real EV ETFs, which is to say the $2.63 billion four-star rated fund turned 10 years old last July. At that age, it’s also fair to say LIT is one of the pioneers of the thematic ETF movement. LIT’s success attributable to several factors, not the least of which are early adopters’ willingness to bet on increased demand and Global X seeing past near-sighted critics that, a decade ago, call LIT too focused a fund to gain widespread acceptance. These days, LIT ranks as one of the premier avenues for accessing the “ingredients” side of the EV story and the fund is higher by 158% over the past year – a stellar showing considering Tesla isn’t even 6% of the fund’s weight. “At a high level, the industry’s ecosystem starts upstream with lithium miners that extract the metal from the earth,” according to Global X research. “These raw materials then move into the chemical conversion process to produce lithium carbonate or lithium hydroxide. Battery producers combine carbonate or hydroxide with materials to form a cathode and an anode, together forming an individual battery cell. Thousands of cells may be combined to create a battery pack for an EV.” On the date of publication, Todd Shriber did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. Todd Shriber has been an InvestorPlace contributor since 2014. More From InvestorPlace Why Everyone Is Investing in 5G All WRONG Top Stock Picker Reveals His Next 1,000% Winner It doesn’t matter if you have $500 in savings or $5 million. Do this now. The post 5 Electric Vehicle ETFs Getting a Big Biden Boost appeared first on InvestorPlace.

  • AMD Stock Has Too Many Catalysts to Ignore

    It’s like doubters of Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) keep waiting to wake up one day and see the stock in free-fall as bulls overplayed their hand. The truth is, AMD stock remains a great bet on the future of technology. Source: Joseph GTK / Shutterstock.com As time goes on, computing tasks aren’t becoming less robust. They’re becoming more demanding, which increases the need for GPUs and chipmakers like AMD. The fact that AMD was a penny stock a few years ago and on the brink of survival has cemented a lot of doubt within the bear camp. Fortunately, their theses are out of line. While it’s possible the company has a hiccup or two along the way, AMD continues to take market share at a time where the market is growing. InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips That’s exactly the kind of thing bulls want to see and it’s exactly why the stock has done so well. Now AMD is leaning on a bevy of industries — including crypto, AI, automotive, gaming and cloud-computing to name a few — to drive its business. Unless these industries are going to unravel, neither will AMD stock. Breaking Down Advanced Micro Devices As we round out 2020, analysts expect AMD to grow revenue more than 40% to $9.5 billion. They further expect earnings to nearly double to $1.23 per share. 9 Stocks That Investors Think Are the Next Amazon Just think about that for a minute. In a year marred by a pandemic, Advanced Micro Devices is forecast to grow sales 40% and almost double its bottom line. Even better, those estimates accelerated dramatically over the past 12 months. Let’s put it this way: Consensus estimates call for an additional 27% revenue growth in 2021 to $12.1 billion and for earnings to climb almost 50% to $1.81 per share. In July 2020, these consensus estimates stood at just $8.4 billion and ~$1.05 per share. Again, that’s where estimates stood for 2021 roughly six months ago. Now AMD is easily surpassing those totals in 2020. Two-year forward estimates call for another 20% in revenue growth in 2022. Who knows, perhaps that’s conservative too. Friends, the key to successful long-term investing doesn’t start with a stock chart. It starts with identifying the long-term business trends, then focusing on the companies that are winning in those spaces. The technicals matter from the perspective of timing, but with enough patience and time, the fundamentals will be what drives these names higher. As these end markets grow, so do the opportunities for AMD. It’s what has allowed the company to go from a penny stock to making major acquisitions. Growth Beyond the Field Here’s another trend to focus on: financials. Over the last several years, but particularly over the last 18 months, AMD has seen its free cash flow soar, its gross and operating margins climb and its debt plunge. Gross margins went from the low- to mid-20% range in 2017 to 44.5% currently. Operating margins went from roughly negative 10% at the start of 2017 to more than 13%. Two years ago, free cash flow was sitting near a negative $250 million. Six months later, AMD had break-even free cash flow. Now it sits at almost $700 million. At year-end 2017, AMD had total assets of $3.54 billion and total liabilities of $2.92 billion. Now, those figures sit at $7 billion and $3.15 billion, respectively, representing a massive improvement. Total long-term debt has gone from $1.33 billion to $578 million in that span as well. In other words, AMD is more profitable, has less debt and has the right trends with its financials. Trading AMD Stock Click to EnlargeSource: Chart courtesy of TrendSpider The truth is, AMD stock can be rather hard to pin down when it comes to trading. It does trade quite well in regards to the technicals, but it has a tendency to give a lot of false moves. That is, it appears to break down only to snap back and reverse higher, or it appears to break out, only to reverse lower. The latter has played out this week, with shares climbing to new highs on Jan. 11. However, the stock failed to close at those highs and pulled back in the next session. Does that mean the run is over? Not at all. Look at the way AMD stock tends to trade. It goes on these big runs, gaining a tremendous amount of ground, then consolidates. Sometimes that consolidation is a few weeks. Other times it’s a few months. Shares consolidated for the entire first half of 2020, erupting from the mid-$50s in July to the mid-$80s a month later. Then AMD stock traded sideways before jumping higher in December. That’s the pattern here. Look for these consolidation patterns as AMD is resting for the next move. These are opportunities for investors and when the stock does dip, it’s constantly met by support. On the date of publication, neither Matt McCall nor the InvestorPlace Research Staff member primarily responsible for this article held (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. More From InvestorPlace Why Everyone Is Investing in 5G All WRONG Top Stock Picker Reveals His Next 1,000% Winner It doesn’t matter if you have $500 in savings or $5 million. Do this now. The post AMD Stock Has Too Many Catalysts to Ignore appeared first on InvestorPlace.

  • Dow Jones Futures: Stock Market Rally, Tesla Have Healthy Pullbacks As Biden Stimulus Buzz Wanes

    Biden stimulus buzz may be waning, as the market rally had a healthy pullback. So did Tesla. Qualcomm and JPMorgan are near buy points.

  • Rally Quickly Turns 7 Penny Stocks Into Billion-Dollar Companies

    Some left-for-dead penny stocks are now billion-dollar companies, thanks to the rally in the S&P 500 and other indexes.

  • IRS says this tax season will be ‘one of the nation’s most important.’ Make note of these key dates

    At a time when millions of people are strapped for money and counting on their income tax refund or a stimulus check, they’ll have to wait a little longer before they can file their taxes. Feb. 12 marks the first date the Internal Revenue Service will start accepting and processing returns. Tax season started Jan. 27 last year.

  • Value stocks are about to come out of their coma, says index fund powerhouse Vanguard

    The idea that value stocks are finally about to awaken after a decadelong slumber is almost a joke in financial circles. What is at least slightly different about Vanguard’s perspective is that its model suggests that investors have been correct in shunning value stocks, at least until the last few years. “Our research indicates that a value premium does exist and that the recent outperformance of growth stocks can be partially explained by downward-trending long-term inflation levels and the lack of material acceleration in earnings growth over the last decade,” the firm says.

  • Luckin Stock May Be a Long-Shot Worth Betting On

    When it peaked at the start of 2020, Luckin Coffee (OTCMKTS:LKNCY) traded as high as $50.02. Today Luckin stock trades around $10. A lot has changed in the last year, but a comeback could be on the horizon. Source: Robert Way / Shutterstock.com You’ll recall that when investors discovered that the company had fraudulently reported $300 million in revenue, the stock sank fast and hard. Luckin stock traded in the $2 range for much of the last half of the year, but only much of it.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips When the company settled with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Dec. 16, the stock’s following rally was a welcome change. So, after a more-than fivefold increase in its share price, should investors speculate on the company formerly known as the Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) of China? Luckin Stock Recovers The stock market typically has a short-term memory for fraudulent companies, so the settlement with the SEC may prove to be a turning point for the beleaguered coffee company. The SEC charged the company with violating its anti-fraud provisions, saying the company misstated its revenue, expenses and net operating loss in an obvious attempt to overstate its growth and increased profitability. 9 Stocks That Investors Think Are the Next Amazon But why did Luckin resort to fraud? Well, management would have benefited if they were not caught. By meeting the company’s earnings estimates, the staff involved in the scandal would have gotten a higher bonus as well as benefitted from the rising share price. So, now that the staff involved in the scandal are out of Luckin, the SEC settlement gives the company a fresh new restart. “This settlement with the SEC reflects our cooperation and remediation efforts, and enables the Company to continue with the execution of its business strategy,” Luckin CEO Dr. Jinyi Guo. Now that the company is back on its feet, investors could still get rewarded by buying Luckin stock after its rise. What’s more, the company may even resume its strong growth ambitions in China. Growth in China In 2019, the former CEO of the company said it would open 10,000 stores in China. Of course, after it was delisted from the Nasdaq access to capital has been harder. Today it trades as an over-the-counter stock, which makes the 2019 expansion plan unlikely. Still, if it opens a fraction of that number and posted real profits this time, the stock will climb. Luckin is burning just $20 million a quarter. It has nearly $800 million in cash, excluding the settlement. It needs to build out more stores, quarter to quarter, throughout this year. Readers should note that the company has yet to update its website with the latest quarterly results. Buying any stock with such limited financial information is not ideal. Still, as profit grows in the year ahead, the company could apply for a re-listing on the Nasdaq index. Getting that exposure back on the markets would send the stock higher than where it is currently trading. By the time it is re-listed, new investors will not know about Luckin Coffee’s sordid past. Instead, it will value the stock based on its growing quarterly profits. Risks to LKNCY Stock Source: Chart Courtesy of StockRover.com Luckin gets no recent coverage on Wall Street, as Tipranks reported. Analyst Eric Gonzalez of KeyBank is the last analyst to rate the stock with a “hold,” nine months ago. Furthermore, the stock scores a 14/100 on value. As you can see in the chart, investors have many other restaurant and hospitality companies to consider instead. Your Takeaway Investing in China-based stocks is fraught with risks. The U.S. ban on companies in China is one risk but fraud is the bigger danger. For Luckin, settling with the SEC removes the latter risk. It has cash on the balance sheet to re-formulate its growth strategy. Management needs only to scale down its expansion ambitions in China. By concentrating on fewer store openings and running them profitability, Luckin investors will get rewarded in 2021. On the date of publication, Chris Lau did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. Chris Lau is a contributing author for InvestorPlace.com and numerous other financial sites. Chris has over 20 years of investing experience in the stock market and runs the Do-It-Yourself Value Investing Marketplace on Seeking Alpha. He shares his stock picks so readers get original insight that helps improve investment returns. More From InvestorPlace Why Everyone Is Investing in 5G All WRONG Top Stock Picker Reveals His Next 1,000% Winner It doesn’t matter if you have $500 in savings or $5 million. Do this now. The post Luckin Stock May Be a Long-Shot Worth Betting On appeared first on InvestorPlace.

  • Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus plan could wreck Wall Street's favorite money-making trade

    Tech stocks could come under pressure as President-elect Joe Biden's stimulus plan works its way through the U.S. economy.

  • Is the stock market open on Martin Luther King Jr. Day? Here are trading hours

    Most financial markets will be closed for the celebration of the civil rights leader's life, the first one since protests over the killing of George Floyd touched off massive protests across the nation.

  • Short Seller Andrew Left Goes Sour On Lemonade, Says Company Lies To Shareholders

    Andrew LeftCitron Research's Andrew Left criticized insurance company Lemonade Inc (NYSE: LMND) on Friday, saying its stock multiple is based on empty marketing tactics.The Lemonade Bear Case: In a Twitter live video, Left dismissed Lemonade Inc's claims of bringing new technology to the insurance industry, saying the company's technology is no different from insurers like Progressive Corp. (NYSE: PGR) or State Farm."They've been lying to their customers and their shareholders," said the noted short seller.The company has not responded to a request for comment.Not An ESG Company: He also blasted Lemonade's claims of being a "social good" company as an easy marketing ploy.Left said Lemonade is taking advantage of younger investors' interest in supporting companies that have a positive social impact, like Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA)."It's playing on the millennial investors," he said, adding that the company has a higher multiple than Zoom Video Communications (NASDAQ: ZM), Uber Technologies Inc (NYSE: UBER) or Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA).Lemonade insiders have sold $400 million in the past six months but gave just $1 million to charity last year, he said.Left said the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Trade Commission should look more closely at companies that make claims of being socially responsible.Price Action: Shares of Lemonade ended Friday's trading down 6.79% at $147.74 on Friday. Left's video posted to Twitter at 11:30 a.m.Related Link: XL Fleet Spikes On CEO's CNBC Plug, Citron's Long CallSee more from Benzinga * Click here for options trades from Benzinga * Hillman Group In Talks With Tilman Fertitta SPAC: Bloomberg * 6 Sports SPACs To Consider For Your Investing Playbook(C) 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

  • Benzinga's Weekly Bulls And Bears: AMD, Marathon, Tesla, Uber, Walgreens And More

    * Benzinga has examined the prospects for many investor favorite stocks over the past week. * The week's bullish calls included the electric vehicle leader and a recovering retailer. * A ride-sharing company and a semiconductor maker were among the bearish calls.As the fourth-quarter earnings reporting season got underway last week, the major U.S. indexes lost a little ground. The Dow Jones industrial average concluded the week down about 1%, and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq retreated a little more.Of course, much of the attention during the week was focused on the political drama in Washington, D.C. The U.S. president became the first ever to be impeached twice, after the prior week's chaos at the U.S. Capitol. Social media pulled the plug on the president and others who fomented the insurrection. The outgoing president also kept up the pressure on China, while the incoming president laid out a huge pandemic and economic recovery program.In corporate news, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission opened a probe into a petroleum giant, a semiconductor leader announced management changes, a casino owner and Republican megadonor passed away, and the Detroit Auto Show was canceled.Through it all, Benzinga continued to examine the prospects for many of the stocks most popular with investors. Here are a few of this past week's most bullish and bearish posts that are worth another look.Bulls Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) is not an auto company but rather a disruptive technology company. So says Shivdeep Dhaliwal's "Tesla Reaching T Valuation In 2 Years? Here's What Inspires Daniel Ives' Optimistic Target." Are U.S. political developments bullish for the Elon Musk-led company?Priya Nigam's "Marathon Oil Gets Upgrade Due To Higher Oil Prices, More Cash Return To Shareholders" is focused on how Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE: MRO) is likely to generate around $2 billion over the next couple of years.In Jayson Derrick's "Baird Upgrades Walgreens Boots, Expects Turnaround Of 'Train Wreck' Performance," see the several catalysts that could help turn around specialty retailer Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ: WBA)."Nvidia's Comprehensive Involvement In Gaming Market Continues Strong Demand: Rosenblatt" by Shanthi Rexaline examines how the competitive position of NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) in the gaming GPU market will only get better.In "Cantor Analyst Raises Aphria And Tilray Price Targets Amid Merger," Jelena Martinovic discusses why the impending merger with Tilray Inc. (NASDAQ: TLRY) has overshadowed the recent disappointing quarterly results from Aphria Inc. (NASDAQ: APHA).For additional bullish calls of the past week, also have a look at the following: * Study: Investors Say Tesla, Apple And Microsoft Were 2020's Top Stocks * Why KeyBanc Is Bullish On These 4 Casino StocksBears A Japanese tech investment giant has trimmed its stake in Uber Technologies Inc (NYSE: UBER), according to "SoftBank Dumps B Worth Of Uber Shares After Stock's Rally" by Aditya Raghunath. See how much of the stake in the ride-sharing company remains and whether it is still the largest investment in the firm's portfolio.Shanthi Rexaline's "Why Intel's CEO Transition Is A Negative For AMD: Analyst" argues that the "blue sky" scenario for Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) may start to crumble as its rival gets back on its feet. How much are AMD's share gains in servers likely to moderate?In Chris Katje's "Palantir Vulnerable With Valuation And Lockup Concerns, Citi Says," see whether shares of software company Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE: PLTR) have run too far. Plus, a large share lockup expires around the same time as the upcoming earnings report."JPMorgan Says Hydrogen Stock Plug Power Trades At 'Steep Price,' Downgrades FuelCell Energy" by Jayson Derrick shows why the "compelling" path to $1.2 billion in sales by 2024 for Plug Power Inc (NASDAQ: PLUG) did not impress one top analyst.For more bearish takes, be sure to check out these posts: * Why Investment Strategist Ed Yardeni Is Worried About A Tech Stocks, Bitcoin-Led Market Meltdown * 'You're A Fool' Who Will 'Lose Everything' If You Take On Debt To Invest In Crypto, Mark Cuban Says * How Did Retail Perform During The Holidays?At the time of this writing, the author had no position in the mentioned equities.Photo Courtesy of PixabayKeep up with all the latest breaking news and trading ideas by following Benzinga on Twitter.See more from Benzinga * Click here for options trades from Benzinga * Barron's Picks And Pans: Dividend Aristocrats, Alibaba, GameStop, Walmart And More * Notable Insider Buys Of The Past Week: Howard Hughes, Party City, Perrigo And More(C) 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

  • Raymond James: 2 Big 7% Dividend Stocks to Buy Now

    Watching the markets with an eye to the main chance, Raymond James strategist Tavis McCourt sees both risk and opportunity in current market conditions. The opportunity, in his opinion, stems from the obvious factors: the Democrats won both Georgia Senate seats in the recent runoff vote, giving the incoming Biden Administration majority support in both Houses of Congress – and increasing the odds of meaningful fiscal support getting signed into law in the near term. More importantly, the coronavirus vaccination program is proceeding, and reports are showing that Pfizer’s vaccine, one of two approved in the US, is effective against the new strain of the virus. A successful vaccination program will speed up the economic recovery, allowing states to loosen lockdown regulations – and get people back to work. The risks are also coming from the political and public health realms. The House Democrats have passed articles of impeachment against President Trump, despite the imminent natural closure of his term of office, and that passage reduces the chances of political reconciliation in a heavily polarized environment. And while the COVID strain is matched by current vaccines, there is still a risk that a new strain will develop that is not covered by existing vaccinations – which could restart the cycle of lockdowns and economic decline. Another risk McCourt sees, beyond those two, would be a sharp rise in inflation. He doesn’t discount that, but sees it as unlikely to happen soon. “…product/service inflation is only really a possibility AFTER re-openings, so the market feels a bit bullet proof in the very near term, and thus the continued rally, with Dems winning the GA races just adding fuel to the stimulus fire,” McCourt noted. Some of McCourt’s colleagues among the Raymond James analyst cadre are keeping these risks in mind, and putting their imprimatur on strong dividend stocks. We’ve looked into Raymond James' recent calls, and using the TipRanks database, we’ve chosen two stocks with high-yield dividends. These Buy-rated tickers bring a dividend yield of 7%, a strong attraction for investors interested in using the current good times to set up a defensive firewall should the risks materialize. Enterprise Products Partners (EPD) We’ll start in the energy sector, a business segment long known for both high cash flows and high dividends. Enterprise Products Partners is a midstream company, part of the network that moves hydrocarbon products from the wellheads to the storage farms, refineries, and distribution points. Enterprise controls over 50,000 miles worth of pipelines, shipping terminals on Texas’ Gulf coast, and storage facilities for 160 million barrels oil and 14 billion cubic feet of natural gas. The company was hurt by low prices and low demand in 1H20, but partially recovered in the second half. Revenues turned around, growing 27% sequentially to reach $6.9 billion in Q3. That number was down year-over-year, slipping 5.4%, but came in more than 6% above the Q3 forecast. Q3 earnings, at 48 cents per share, were just under the forecast, but were up 4% year-over-year and 2% sequentially. EPD has recently declared its 4Q20 dividend distribution, at 45 cents per common share. This is up from the previous payment of 44 cents, and marks the first increase in two years. At $1.80 annualized, the payment yields 7.9%. Among the bulls is Raymond James' Justin Jenkins, who rates EPD a Strong Buy. The analyst gives the stock a $26 price target, which implies a 15% upside from current levels. (To watch Jenkins’ track record, click here) Backing his bullish stance, Jenkins noted, "In our view, EPD's unique combination of integration, balance sheet strength, and ROIC track record remains best in class. We see EPD as arguably best positioned to withstand the volatile landscape… With EPD's footprint, demand gains, project growth, and contracted ramps should more than offset supply headwinds and lower y/y marketing results…" It’s not often that the analysts all agree on a stock, so when it does happen, take note. EPD’s Strong Buy consensus rating is based on a unanimous 9 Buys. The stock’s $24.63 average price target suggests an upside of 9% from the current share price of $22.65. (See EPD stock analysis on TipRanks) AT&T, Inc. (T) AT&T is one of the market’s instantly recognizable stock. The company is a member in long standing of the S&P 500, and it has reputation as one of the stock market’s best dividend payers. AT&T is a true large-cap industry giant, with a market cap of $208 billion and the largest network of mobile and landline phone services in the US. Its acquisition of TimeWarner (now WarnerMedia), in a process running between 2016 and 2018, has given the company a large stake in the mobile content streaming business. AT&T saw revenues and earnings decline in 2020, under pressure from the corona pandemic – but the decline was modest, as that same pandemic also put a premium on telecom and networking systems, which tended to support AT&T’s business. Revenues in 3Q20 were $42.3 billion, 5% below the year-ago quarter. On positive notes, free cash flow rose yoy from $11.4 billion to $12.1 billion, and the company reported a net gain of 5.5 million new subscribers. The subscriber growth was driven by the new 5G network rollout – and by premium content services. The company held up its reputation as a dividend champ, and has made its most recent dividend declaration for payment in February 2021. The payment, at 52 per common share, is the fifth in a row at current level and annualizes to $2.08, giving a yield of 7.2%. For comparison, the average dividend among tech sector peer companies is only 0.9%. AT&T has kept its dividend strong for the past 12 years. Raymond James analyst Frank Louthan sees AT&T as a classic defensive value stock, and describes T’s current state as one with the bad news ‘baked in.’ “[We] believe there is more that can go right during the next 12 months than can get worse for AT&T. Throw in the fact that shares are heavily shorted, and we believe this is a recipe for upside. Large cap value names are hard to come by, and we think investors who can wait a few months for a mean reversion while locking in a 7% yield should be rewarded for buying AT&T at current levels,” Louthan opined. In line with these comments, Louthan rates T an Outperform (i.e. Buy), and his $32 price target implies room for 10% growth from current levels. (To watch Louthan’s track record, click here) What does the rest of the Street think? Looking at the consensus breakdown, opinions from other analysts are more spread out. 7 Buy ratings, 6 Holds and 2 Sells add up to a Moderate Buy consensus. In addition, the $31.54 average price target indicates ~9% upside potential. (See AT&T stock analysis on TipRanks) To find good ideas for dividend stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks’ Best Stocks to Buy, a newly launched tool that unites all of TipRanks’ equity insights. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analysts. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.

  • This little-known tax break can give you up to $2,000 in free money

    If you haven't heard about the saver's credit, you'll want to get up to speed.

  • Why Pfizer Is a Long-Term Investor’s Friend

    Investors chasing possible vaccine stocks might be puzzled by the market’s treatment of Pfizer (NASDAQ:PFE) and wondering why Pfizer stock isn’t trading higher. Source: Manuel Esteban / Shutterstock.com After all, the New York-based multinational pharmaceutical giant (and its German partner) gained prominence in the battle against the novel coronavirus with an innovative vaccine that apparently delivers impressive protection against Covid-19. This success fueled hope around the world the pandemic can be contained. Boy howdy, shouldn’t that send a company’s soaring?InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips 9 Stocks That Investors Think Are the Next Amazon Perhaps, but the market – and those who use it – evaluate a stock’s value via a complicate assessment. This review incorporates many factors, primarily the strength of a company’s financial fundamentals. Other factors include demand for products and consumer support. Pfizer Stock at a Glance PFE rose over the course of last year. Most likely, traders “priced in” that performance some time ago. Generally, the market has a forward-looking perspective. This outlook can be disrupted, but those effects tend to brief. To me, Pfizer stock is more a candidate for slow-and-steady status than spectacular surges. The market already rewarded the stock for its vaccine success. Continued success over the course of this year will almost certainly buoy PFE shares. This will make it easier for the stock to climb on the back of other good news. Pfizer stock is attractive to investors with a long view because of its development pipeline. The company is focused on generating new products to replace revenue from older medicines. Pfizer has taken steps to move older medicines to other companies. This demonstrates its commitment to stay streamlined and nimble. Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine is a prime example. Pfizer did not invent the vaccine. Rather, it was a process by BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX), a small German-based biotech company, that forms the basis of the anti-Covid drug. Officials of the German company approached Pfizer about partnering to bring it to market. By being nimble, Pfizer was able to quickly form the partnership and, together with BioNTech, deliver the important vaccine. This is impressive because Pfizer is a massive company. Its 2019 drug sales revenue totaled $51.8 billion. The consistency of Pfizer stock is shown by its 52-week trading range. PFE topped the last year at $43.08 per share. But its low point was $27.88, which is far better than many popular stocks. The company’s market cap is about $206.7 billion and its price-earnings ratio about 24. Its dividend is 4.2%. A Long-Term Play As I wrote earlier, Pfizer stock is an excellent candidate for a long-term portfolio. That is, the investor not drawn by quick pops and drops but rather solid performance over years versus months or even days. I am not alone in this assessment. My InvestorPlace colleague Larry Ramer recently said the equity won’t soar but it fits the bill for conservative long-term investors. In his article on Jan. 7, Ramer cited the company’s development program and admirable dividend: I stand by my belief that Pfizer stock is unlikely to get a further, meaningful lift from the vaccine for the coronavirus… As a result, I remain convinced that short-term investors and those looking for a relatively fast growth should not buy the shares. For conservative, long-term investors and those looking for dividend income, Pfizer, however, looks like an excellent buy. Income investors will appreciate that Pfizer has raised its payout several times and that is expected to continue. Also, the company has promising new drugs in development and none slated to sunset for several years. The Bottom Line Pfizer stock was favored by many investors before its success with a coronavirus vaccine. The company nurtures its drug development program but also is ready for deals with others to bring products to consumers. And remember, its relationship with BioNTech isn’t limited to the Covid-19 vaccine but includes other products as well. Combined with a hearty dividend of about 4.2%, Pfizer stock is a buy for investors seeking a solid pharma firm. On the date of publication, Larry Sullivan did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. Larry Sullivan is a veteran journalist in Florida who has covered banking and finance for several years. He is a former investing editor at U.S. News & World Report in Washington D.C. and began writing for InvestorPlace in 2020. More From InvestorPlace Why Everyone Is Investing in 5G All WRONG Top Stock Picker Reveals His Next 1,000% Winner It doesn’t matter if you have $500 in savings or $5 million. Do this now. The post Why Pfizer Is a Long-Term Investor’s Friend appeared first on InvestorPlace.

  • There are six types of retirees — which are you?

    New retirees are like recent college graduates — they’re on their own after years of the same routine, and they have to find a new path to follow. This type of retiree ventures into the unknown, taking on a new job they’ve never done before.