According to leading banks, the evidence of an upcoming downturn is growing. HSBC, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley have all noted a trading pattern breakdown — a signal to get out soon — according to Bloomberg. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein made headlines recently when he said he sees something in the market that ‘unnerves’ him. “The biggest problem, the anxiety that people have, is non-specific to what asset we are pointing to but the general feeling that things have been going up for too long,†Blankfein commented.
In this environment, investors need to find the toughest stocks that can withstand a downward shift in the market. Here we looked for five stocks that all have a ‘Strong Buy’ rating from the Street’s best analysts. These are the analysts with the highest success rate and average return.
Following only the top analysts provides a degree of reassurance in volatile times that you can trust the analyst you are following. And we can also ensure that the price target from top analysts provided compelling upside for the stock in question. At the same time, we also searched specifically for stocks that can keep outperforming in a downturn. This can be because of the nature of the industry, say healthcare, or because of the glowing fundamentals of the stock itself.
Now let’s take a closer look at these top five stocks:
1. Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ:CELG)
Healthcare stocks are a strong choice in times of volatility. So says Merrill Lynch which recently released a report stating that health care stocks are close to all-time low valuations despite continuing upside surprises. In particular, the health care sector also stands to benefit from ageing populations while also offering growth at acceptable prices. And this large-cap biotech is no exception.
CELG has a Strong Buy analyst consensus rating with 16 buy ratings in the last three months versus just two hold ratings. Meanwhile the average analyst price target of $156 comes in at 9.5% upside to the current share price. In particular, top Jefferies analyst Michael Yee believes Celgene shares will move higher over the next few months and into 2018 with the release of three major Phase III datasets: GED-301 in Crohn’s, Ozanimod in ulcerative colitis and partner Acceleron’s luspatercept in beta-thalassemia. He has a $160 price target on the stock (12% upside).
