Late in December, Nvidia Corp. topped a list of favorite stocks among analysts working for brokerage firms. But with the stock continuing to soar this year, running the same screen of the S&P 500 produces a different result, with Nvidia no longer even making the top 20.
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Back in December, the great majority of analysts polled by FactSet who covered Nvidia NVDA rated the stock a buy or the equivalent. Before the market opened on Dec. 26, their consensus price target for the stock was $668.11, which was 37% higher than the Dec. 22 closing price of $488.30.
Nvidia’s stock closed out 2023 at $495.22, having risen 239% for the year. So far in 2024, the stock has climbed another 83.5% to close at $908.88 on Wednesday. That is slightly above the new consensus 12-month price target of $904.55 for the stock.
Even though 54 out of 60 analysts still rate Nvidia a buy, the stock has gotten ahead of the analysts’ traditional consensus 12-month price target. That combination of favorable ratings and a target below the current price gives some food for thought: A year isn’t a lengthy period for a committed long-term investor.
Last week, we looked at Nvidia’s price-to-earnings valuation, which has come down significantly over the past year.
A new screen for favorites among the S&P 500
Beginning with the S&P 500 SPX, we narrowed the list to 74 stocks with at least 75% buy or equivalent ratings among analysts polled by FactSet.
Here are the 20 remaining stocks in the S&P 500 that are buy-rated by at least 75% of analysts and that have the highest 12-month upside potential indicated by the consensus price targets:
|
Company |
Ticker |
March 13 price |
Consensus price target |
Implied 12-month upside potential |
Share buy ratings |
|
United Airlines Holdings Inc. |
UAL |
$43.04 |
$63.46 |
47% |
77% |
|
First Solar Inc. |
FSLR |
$158.04 |
$226.83 |
44% |
82% |
|
Insulet Corp. |
PODD |
$175.54 |
$237.18 |
35% |
83% |
|
Aptiv PLC |
APTV |
$79.72 |
$103.73 |
30% |
80% |
|
Schlumberger Ltd. |
SLB |
$52.57 |
$68.15 |
30% |
94% |
|
Halliburton Co. |
HAL |
$36.53 |
$47.28 |
29% |
88% |
|
Zoetis Inc. Class A |
ZTS |
$176.23 |
$227.20 |
29% |
88% |
|
MGM Resorts International |
MGM |
$42.86 |
$55.24 |
29% |
80% |
|
Baker Hughes Co. Class A |
BKR |
$31.75 |
$40.55 |
28% |
80% |
|
Lamb Weston Holdings Inc. |
LW |
$102.94 |
$129.15 |
25% |
93% |
|
Carnival Corp. |
CCL |
$16.65 |
$20.88 |
25% |
83% |
|
Delta Air Lines Inc. |
DAL |
$43.91 |
$53.89 |
23% |
96% |
|
VICI Properties Inc. |
VICI |
$29.31 |
$35.78 |
22% |
88% |
|
UnitedHealth Group Inc. |
UNH |
$488.00 |
$595.73 |
22% |
88% |
|
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. |
TTWO |
$144.89 |
$176.11 |
22% |
77% |
|
News Corp Class A |
NWSA |
$26.35 |
$32.02 |
22% |
78% |
|
Las Vegas Sands Corp. |
LVS |
$53.35 |
$63.95 |
20% |
83% |
|
SBA Communications Corp. Class A |
SBAC |
$219.80 |
$262.36 |
19% |
82% |
|
Teledyne Technologies Inc. |
TDY |
$421.24 |
$500.55 |
19% |
90% |
|
NextEra Energy Inc. |
NEE |
$59.54 |
$70.32 |
18% |
77% |
|
Source: FactSet |
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Click on the tickers for more about each company.
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Source: finance.yahoo.com