List of Top 5 stocks to invest in 2021

Before January 2020 global economy was expecting to beat their own records but then came an unwanted enemy novel coronavirus (COVID-19) which shook the world. The global pandemic has inflicted severe loss of lives and continues to cause ongoing damage to the global economy. Many stock markets have seen declines in excess of 30% from their recent highs, but there has been considerable variation across countries. This raises the question of what has driven differences in investor response to the situation. But now worldwide COVID-19 vaccination and a steep reduction in new coronavirus cases have bolstered market participant’s expectation of a faster reopening of the economy.

In U.S., President Joe Biden signed the new $1.9 trillion coronavirus-aid package on Mar 12 which created a hope that we might see an upward trend in the next 2 quarters of US stock market.

Now because of the pandemic, investing strategy have changed. It is important to focus more on reducing the risk and increasing the returns. All the penny stocks need to be avoided till US gets rid of this pandemic and investments should be focused on the stocks which anyhow survived this tough phase. If a stock is continuously witnessing an uptrend, there must be a solid reason or else it would have probably crashed. However, recent price strength alone cannot create magic. Therefore, you need to set other relevant parameters to create a successful investment strategy.

For assessing a stock’s growth, firstly you have to calculate whether their Percentage Change in Price (4 Weeks) is greater than zero and Percentage Change Price (12 Weeks) is greater than 10 or not. Now next step is checking whether the Current Price/ 52-Week High-Low Range is more than 85%. If yes then shortlist these stocks. Also, one has to keep in mind that investments should not be made in penny stocks i.e., stocks which are less than 5$.

According to the Zacks report published on Nasdaq’s website, they have shortlisted 5 stocks by following the above criteria:

1.Veritiv Corp. VRTV operates as a business-to-business provider of value-added packaging products and services, as well as facility solutions, print, and publishing products and services in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and internationally. The stock price has soared 104.7% in the past four weeks. The company has expected earnings growth of 29.8% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 80% over the last 7 days.

2.Danaos Corp. DAC owns and operates containerships in Australia, Asia, Europe, and the United States. It offers seaborne transportation services, such as chartering its vessels to liner companies. The stock price has jumped 28.8% in the past four weeks. The company has an expected earnings growth rate of 92.2% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 1.5% over the last 30 days.

3.Select Medical Holdings Corp. SEM operates critical illness recovery hospitals, rehabilitation hospitals, outpatient rehabilitation clinics, and occupational health centres in the United States. The stock price has climbed 26.9% in the past four weeks. The company has an expected earnings growth rate of 18% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 47.7% over the last 30 days.

4.EnPro Industries Inc. NPO designs, develops, manufactures, and markets engineered industrial products worldwide. It operates through two segments, Sealing Products and Engineered Products. The stock price has rallied 24.1% in the past four weeks. The company has an expected earnings growth rate of 12% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 62.9% over the last 30 days.

5.ArcelorMittal MT is the world’s leading steel and mining company that owns and operates steel manufacturing and mining facilities in Europe, North and South America, Asia, and Africa. The stock price has surged 18.1% in the past four weeks. The company has expected earnings growth of more than 100% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 3.7% over the last 7 days.

Information Source: NASDAQ

Risk Disclosure: Investment/Trading in securities Market is subject to market risk, past performance is not a guarantee of future performance. So before investing please ensure that you understand fully the risks involved and do invest money according to your risk bearing capacity.