Top Stocks for July 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 this 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 provided a total return of 39.9% over the past 12 months. This market performance number and all data below are as of June 23, 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.

Best Value Stocks
  Price ($) Market Cap ($B) 12-Month Trailing P/E Ratio
Agios Pharmaceuticals Inc. (
AGIO)
56.41 3.5 2.5
Annaly Capital Management Inc. (
NLY)
9.18 12.8 3.0
AGNC Investment Corp. (
AGNC)
17.07 9.0 3.1
Qurate Retail Inc. (
QRTEA)
12.89 5.3 3.8
Athene Holding Ltd. (
ATH)
63.51 12.2 4.0

Source: YCharts

  • Agios Pharmaceuticals Inc.: Agios Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company focused on cellular metabolism. The company develops medicines aimed at treating genetically defined diseases. The lead product candidate in the company’s clinical portfolio is mitapivat, which is designed to treat conditions including thalassemia, an inherited blood disorder, as well as sickle cell disease. Agios submitted a New Drug Application to the Food and Drug Administration on June 21 for mitapivat for the treatment of adults with pyruvate kinase deficiency (PK). PK can lead to chronic fatigue, gallstones, liver cirrhosis, pulmonary hypertension and other health problems. There are currently no approved therapies for PK.
  • Annaly Capital Management Inc.: Annaly Capital Management is a diversified capital management company that invests in and finances residential and commercial assets. Its investment strategies include agency mortgage-backed securities, residential and commercial real estate, and middle market lending. The company has about $100 billion in total assets. On June 9, Annaly announced a dividend of $0.22 per share of common stock for Q2 2021. The dividend is payable July 30 to shareholders as of June 30, 2021.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Athene Holding Ltd.: Athene Holding is an insurance holding company that provides issuance, reinsurance, and other services globally related to retirement savings products. As of March 31, 2021, Athene had $205.7 billion in total assets. On June 2, Athene announced that it had declared preferred stock dividends on four series of non-cumulative preference shares. These dividends are payable on June 30 to shareholders as of June 15.

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.

Fastest Growing Stocks
  Price ($) Market Cap ($B) EPS Growth (%) Revenue Growth (%)
Tesla Inc. (
TSLA)
656.57 632.5 1,850 73.6
Zoom Video Communications Inc. (
ZM)
376.92 111.1 722.2 191.4
Everest Re Group Ltd. (
RE)
245.78 9.9 1,980 34.1
Boston Scientific Corp. (
BSX)
43.79 62.2 2,200 8.2
PPD Inc. (
PPD)
46.28 16.3 2,000 28.5

Source: YCharts

  • Tesla Inc.: Tesla is the world’s largest automaker by market value, with a market cap of about $655 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.
  • 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 June 9, Zoom launched Zoom Phone Appliances, a new category of hardware designed for the hybrid workforce. The new offering includes video and audio capabilities, touch display, interactive whiteboarding and related services.
  • Everest Re Group Ltd.: Everest Re Group offers property and casualty reinsurance to insurers in the U.S. and internationally, as well as insurance to policyholders in the U.S. and Canada. As of December 31, 2020, more than two thirds of the company’s business was dedicated to products such as short tail, specialty casualty, and professional liability, including roughly one third focused on reinsurance. In Q1 2021, Everest’s net income soared and total revenue climbed by 38.4% YOY thanks to healthy growth in written premiums.
  • Boston Scientific Corp.: Boston Scientific is a global developer and manufacturer of medical devices used in a broad range of interventional medical specialties. Its products are used to aid in diagnosing or treating complex diseases and conditions across multiple fields, including cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive, neurological, urological and pelvic health. The company employs 38,000 people globally and its products are used to treat approximately 30 million patients each year. On May 25, the company announced the completion of European requirements for health, safety and environmental standards for its EXALT Model B Single-Use Bronchoscope. The device is used for various bedside procedures and became available for sale in Europe in June.
  • PPD Inc.: PPD is a global contract research organization. It engages in drug discovery, lifecycle management, laboratory services, and clinical development. PPD serves pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device, and government organizations. It employs more than 27,000 people in 47 countries.

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.

Stocks with the Most Momentum
  Price ($) Market Cap ($B) 12-Month Trailing Total Return (%)
L Brands Inc. (
LB)
71.07 19.7 384.9
Olin Corp. (
OLN)
46.64 7.4 297.2
Enphase Energy Inc. (
ENPH)
170.24 23.1 274.2
NovoCure Ltd. (
NVCR)
225.58 23.3 259.4
Generac Holdings Inc. (
GNRC)
406.12 25.6 248.0
Russell 1000 Index N/A N/A 39.9

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 operates through three core brands: Bath & Body Works, a specialty retailer offering a range of fragrances for the home and body; Victoria’s Secret, a specialty retailer of bras, panties, lingerie, beauty products, and more; and PINK, a lifestyle brand that offers loungewear, knit tops, bras, panties, activewear, accessories, and more. The company is in the process of splitting into two separate, publicly traded companies. The plan includes separating its Victoria’s Secret business into an independent public company called Victoria’s Secret & Co. The new company will include will include Victoria’s Secret Lingerie, PINK and Victoria’s Secret Beauty. The separation is expected to be completed in August 2021.
  • Olin Corp.: Olin is a vertically-integrated global manufacturer and distributor of chemical products. It also owns Winchester, a U.S. manufacturer of ammunition products. Its chemical products include chlorine and caustic soda, vinyls, epoxies, chlorinated organics, bleach, and hydrochloric acid. Winchester produces and distributes sporting ammunition, law enforcement ammunition, reloading components, and related products. The company employs 8,000 professionals in more than 20 countries.
  • Enphase Energy Inc.: Enphase Energy is a global energy technology company. It is the leading provider of microinverter-based storage systems that boost the productivity and reliability of solar modules. The company has more than 34 million microinverters installed on more than 1.4 million homes.
  • NovoCure Ltd.: NovoCure is a commercial-stage oncology company headquartered in Jersey, a dependency of the U.K. It researches and develops technologies for the treatment of cancer using a proprietary platform called Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields). TTFields are electric fields tuned to specific frequencies to disrupt cancer cell division. In 2020, the company treated more than 18,000 patients globally.
  • Generac Holdings Inc.: Generac designs and manufactures power generation equipment and other engine powered products. It also provides energy storage systems, grid service solutions, and other power products to the residential, light commercial, and industrial markets. The company announced in June that it had acquired Deep Sea Electronics Ltd., a advanced controls designer and manufacturer, for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition is expected to strengthen Generac’s position in the field of controls and automation.

The comments, opinions, and analyses expressed herein are for informational purposes only and should not be considered individual investment advice or recommendations to invest in any security or to adopt any investment strategy. While we believe the information provided herein is reliable, we do not warrant its accuracy or completeness. The views and strategies described on our content may not be suitable for all investors. Because market and economic conditions are subject to rapid change, all comments, opinions, and analyses contained within our content are rendered as of the date of the posting and may change without notice. The material is not intended as a complete analysis of every material fact regarding any country, region, market, industry, investment, or strategy.

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  1. YCharts. “Financial Data.” Accessed June 24, 2021.

  2. Agios Pharmaceuticals Inc. “Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020,” Page 3. Accessed June 24, 2021.

  3. Agios Pharmaceuticals Inc. “About Us.” Accessed June 24, 2021.

  4. Agios Pharmaceuticals Inc. “Agios Submits New Drug Application to FDA for Mitapivat for Treatment of Adults with Pyruvate Kinase Deficiency.” Accessed June 24, 2021.

  5. Annaly Capital Management Inc. “Our Company.” Accessed June 24, 2021.

  6. Annaly Capital Management Inc. “Annaly Capital Management, Inc. Announces 2nd Quarter 2021 Common Stock Dividend of $0.22 per Share.” Accessed June 24, 2021.

  7. AGNC Investment Corp. “About Us.” Accessed June 24, 2021.

  8. AGNC Investment Corp. “Portfolio.” Accessed June 24, 2021.

  9. Qurate Retail Inc. “Investor Relations.” Accessed June 24, 2021.

  10. Qurate Retail Inc. “Welcome to Qurate Retail Group.” Accessed June 24, 2021.

  11. Athene Holding Ltd. “Our Story.” Accessed June 24, 2021.

  12. Athene Holding Ltd. “Athene Holding Ltd. Declares Second Quarter 2021 Preferred Stock Dividends.” Accessed June 24, 2021.

  13. Tesla Inc. “Form 10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2020,” Page 4. Accessed June 24, 2021.

  14. Zoom Video Communications Inc. “About.” Accessed June 24, 2021.

  15. Zoom Video Communications Inc. “Getting Started with Webinar.” Accessed June 24, 2021.

  16. Zoom Video Communications Inc. “Zoom Launches Zoom Phone Appliances, Empowering the Hybrid Workforce.” Accessed June 24, 2021.

  17. Everest Re Group Ltd. “About Everest.” Accessed June 24, 2021.

  18. Everest Re Group. “Everest Re Group Reports First Quarter 2021 Results,” Page 1, 7. Accessed June 24, 2021.

  19. Boston Scientific Corp. “Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020,” Page 3. Accessed June 24, 2021.

  20. Boston Scientific Corp. “2020 Annual Report,” Page 1. Accessed June 24, 2021.

  21. Boston Scientific Corp. “About Us.” Accessed June 24, 2021.

  22. Boston Scientific Corp. “Boston Scientific Completes CE Mark for EXALT™ Model B Single-Use Bronchoscope.” Accessed June 24, 2021.

  23. PPD Inc. “Overview.” Accessed June 24, 2021.

  24. L Brands Inc. “Our Brands.” Accessed June 24, 2021.

  25. L Brands Inc. “L Brands, Inc. Announces Public Filing of Form 10 Registration Statement for Planned Separation of Victoria’s Secret and Availability of Investor Presentation.” Accessed June 24, 2021.

  26. Olin Corp. “Investor Relations.” Accessed June 24, 2021.

  27. Olin Corp. “Learn About Olin.” Accessed June 24, 2021.

  28. Enphase Energy Inc. “About Us.” Accessed June 24, 2021.

  29. Enphase Energy Inc. “Investor Presentation.” Accessed June 24, 2021.

  30. NovoCure Ltd. “Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020,” Page 1. Accessed June 24, 2021.

  31. NovoCure Ltd. “2020 Annual Report,” Page 2. Accessed June 24, 2021.

  32. Generac Holdings Inc. “Corporate Profile.” Accessed June 24, 2021.

  33. Generac Holdings Inc. “Generac Acquires Controller Manufacturer Deep Sea Electronics.” Accessed June 24, 2021.

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